New Delhi, Nov. 27 -- Twenty-four schoolgirls abducted from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria have been freed, officials announced Tuesday, offering brief respite in a region plagued by surging mass kidnappings. The students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town, Kebbi state, were taken on November 18 when armed assailants stormed the facility, killing the school's vice principal during the raid. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu expressed relief at their safe return but warned that urgent security measures are needed to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities.

The kidnapping occurred shortly after military forces withdrew from the area, raising questions about coordination failures in Nigeria's...