Welcome to Friday’s roundup of Nigerian newspaper headlines, accompanied by our advocacy-focused calls on issues that impact citizens.

1. Daily Trust: Bandits Abduct Six Girls, Boy in FCT

We begin with Daily Trust, which reports that armed men stormed Gidan-Bijimi in the Bwari area council of the Federal Capital Territory on Thursday night, kidnapping six young women and a 16-year-old boy, leaving residents in panic while local vigilantes retreated in the face of heavier firepower. This is happening barely days after the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, announced that security would be tightened across Abuja, a promise that apparently travelled slower than the bandits.

Our Take: This incident should push the FCT Minister and the Commissioner of Police to finally move beyond press briefings and deliver real security to border communities whose lives depend on it. Residents deserve more than announcements about ‘improved surveillance’ that bandits seem blissfully unaware of.

2. Punch: Safe Schools project stalls in 30 states as abductions rise

Despite a decade of rising school attacks, 30 states are still yet to implement the Federal Government’s Safe Schools Initiative, launched in 2014 after the Chibok abduction with an initial $10m pledge and later expanded through a UN-coordinated multi-donor trust fund.

Our Take: The Presidency, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the National Coordinator of Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria, Halima Iliya the National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu, and state governors, especially those yet to act, must finally move beyond speeches and fully implement the Safe Schools Initiative across all 36 states. With billions already budgeted and with the increasing occurence of school attacks, it’s only fair that governors match their signatures with actual action, rather than treating school security like a souvenir from conferences.

3. The Guardian: IG Claims 11,566 Police Officers Withdrawn from VIPs, Orders Intelligence Policing

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun has confirmed the withdrawal of 11,566 officers formerly assigned to VIPs and special duties, following President Bola Tinubu’s 23 November directive ordering the immediate release of police personnel from VIP protection nationwide.

Our Take: With 11,566 officers finally pulled back from VIP escort duty, President Tinubu, IGP Egbetokun, and state Commissioners of Police must ensure these redeployed personnel don’t just swap tinted SUVs for office chairs but actually strengthen patrols, protect vulnerable communities, and improve response to kidnappings nationwide. If this policy shift is truly about national security and not simply rearranging police name tags, Nigerians should start seeing officers where they’re needed most, on the streets, in threatened communities, and around schools, rather than only in convoys that block traffic and pretend to be thunder.