Bola Tinubu says he suspended the trip in light of the abductions and a separate church attack in which armed men killed two people.
Published On 20 Nov 2025
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has postponed his trip to South Africa for the Group of 20 summit, promising to intensify efforts to rescue 24 schoolgirls abducted by armed men earlier this week.
The president’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement on Wednesday that Tinubu suspended his departure in light of the girls’ abduction and a separate church attack in which gunmen killed two people.
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Tinubu had been set to leave on Wednesday, days before the two-day summit of the world’s leading rich and developing nations was due to begin on Saturday.
“Disturbed by the security breaches in Kebbi State and Tuesday’s attack by bandits against worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, President Tinubu decided to suspend his departure” to the G20 summit, Onanuga said.
It was not clear immediately if or when Tinubu would leave for the weekend summit in Johannesburg.
Search for abducted girls ongoing
The schoolgirls were abducted by unidentified armed men from a secondary school in the northwestern town of Maga in Kebbi State late on Sunday night.
The attackers exchanged gunfire with police before scaling the perimeter fence and abducting the students.
One of the girls managed to escape, authorities said, but the school’s vice principal was killed. No group immediately claimed responsibility for abducting the girls, and their motivation was unclear.
Authorities say the gunmen are mostly former herders who have taken up arms against farming communities after clashes between them over strained resources.
In a separate attack on a church in western Nigeria on Tuesday, armed men killed two people during a service that was recorded and broadcast online.
Supporters of United States President Donald Trump have seized on the violence to embolden their claim that Christians are under attack in Nigeria.
Trump has threatened to invade Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” over what right-wing lawmakers in the US allege is a “Christian genocide“.
Nigeria has rejected the US president’s statements, saying more Muslims have been killed in the country’s various security crises.
