SCHOOL abductions have been a trend in Nigeria. The latest took place in Kaduna and Sokoto states, both in the northwest region, when over 300 children were abducted at different times in March 2024. Previous prominent cases have included the Chibok, Dapchi and Kankara abductions, which insurgents claimed to have perpetrated. As a security scholar and analyst who has researched and written extensively on aspects of Nigeria’s security challenges, including kidnapping and allied crimes, I see school abductions as a symptom of government neglect of territorial and human security. Territorial security refers to keeping the country’s geographical spaces (land, borders,…