ABUJA: Nigeria’s defense minister has resigned, the presidency said, as the country reeled from a security crisis including mass kidnappings of schoolchildren. The departure of Mohammed Badaru Abubakar came after President Bola Tinubu declared a “nationwide security emergency” last week as the country scrambled to respond to a wave of mass kidnappings that have seen hundreds of people, mostly schoolchildren, captured within days last month. Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement that Abubakar, 63, was quitting with immediate effect, on health grounds.

His departure on health grounds coincides with a spate of mass abductions across the West African state.

ABUJA: Nigeria’s defense minister has resigned, the presidency said, as the country reeled from a security crisis including mass kidnappings of schoolchildren. The departure of…