Many of the provinces carry names rooted in Indigenous languages such as Quechua, Mapuche, and Guaraní. Others have Spanish colonial or religious origins.

For example:

Even more interesting translations, such as “Very Pronounced Point Between Two Rivers” (Chaco) or “Prickly Plant Fruit” (Tucumán), come from Indigenous terms describing local landscapes, flora, or cultural practices.

Security guard Abdul-Hamid Idris described the moment the gunmen arrived. “We all thought the footsteps we heard were from cows, until our sister peeped outside and saw that it was actually a large group of children,” he said. “We could clearly see them being beaten whenever they tried to sit or run.”

Parents say the mass abduction has devastated a community already grappling with insecurity. Many fear the attack will end their children ’s education altogether.“Taking a child to the city is not easy… it would be the end of the education for some children,” one parent said, adding, “Most of the parents are not likely to take their children again back to that school.”

The incident is being described as one of the worst school abductions since the 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 girls from Chibok, an episode that drew global outrage.

In a separate development, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that 50 pupils abducted from a Catholic school in Niger State have escaped and been reunited with their families.

Friday’s attack also follows the recent kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls from a secondary school in neighbouring Kebbi State. No group has claimed responsibility for either incident at the time of publication.