Nigeria searches for abducted schoolgirls as gunmen attack church

Students stand in a classroom in Shehu Kangiwa Model Primary School in Argungu, Kebbi State, in northern Nigeria, on April 12, 2025. [Leslie Fauvel, AFP]

Security forces were scouring western Nigeria for two dozen kidnapped schoolgirls on Wednesday, a day after gunmen stormed a church service, killing two people in an attack captured on video.

Nigerian security forces have been placed on high alert, the information minister said, as the country faces an uncomfortable spotlight on its security situation.