French President Emmanuel Macron says France will increase support to Nigeria as the country battles a surge in jihadist and criminal violence. Macron said President Bola Tinubu asked for broader cooperation, and he pledged to work more closely with Nigerian authorities and assist communities hit hardest by attacks.

Ad >>>

The call for help comes as northern Nigeria faces one of its most troubling trends in years: mass school abductions that have forced many states to shut classrooms. In recent weeks, armed groups have taken hundreds of students and teachers from schools and church compounds, moving them through remote forests that security forces struggle to control. Several northern governors have ordered temporary school closures because they cannot guarantee basic safety.

These attacks highlight the strain on Nigeria’s security institutions. After more than a decade fighting Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast, the military is depleted. Troops rotate through long deployments, equipment is often outdated, and rapid response capacity is limited in many rural areas. Bandit groups in the northwest exploit this weakness, operating across vast terrain the government cannot monitor consistently. Police forces are understaffed, local intelligence networks are thin, and coordination between federal and state security units often breaks down.

The choke point is simple: Nigeria is fighting too many threats at once. Jihadists hold pockets of territory in the northeast, kidnappers dominate parts of the northwest, and land conflicts between herders and farmers in central states frequently draw resources away from other missions. Even when the military pushes insurgents back, it rarely holds ground long enough for civil authorities to return, which lets armed groups reemerge.

The situation has gained international attention. Former US President Donald Trump has spoken of sending American troops to protect Christian communities, though Nigeria insists the violence is not strictly religious. Officials stress that criminal groups target both Christians and Muslims, usually for ransom rather than ideology.

Ad >>>

Macron did not detail what form French assistance will take, but the move stands out. France has withdrawn from several West and Central African countries after a wave of coups and anti-French sentiment. Nigeria’s outreach signals that, despite France’s shrinking footprint in the region, Abuja sees outside support as necessary to confront a widening security crisis that now reaches into classrooms and threatens long-term stability.