Nigeria, Dec. 18 -- The abduction last month of more than 300 children and staff by gunmen from an elementary and secondary school in Nigeria's north-central Niger State was dramatic in scale, but it represents just one more incident in the country's tragic history of rural insecurity.

That there has been no public explanation by the authorities over who exactly the kidnappers are - and why they are still at large - is symptomatic of a security system that is failing woefully to protect its citizens, analysts suggest.

The abduction of the students from Saint Mary's Catholic School in Papiri, in Niger State's Agwara district, is the single largest kidnapping to date. Since January 2023, at least 816 pupils have been kidnapped in 22 schoo...