At least 15 students were kidnapped from a school in Nigeria on Saturday morning by gunmen, following a recent armed abduction of approximately 300 students.
The gunmen forced their way into the school premises in the Sokoto village of Gidan Bakuso, in the country’s north-west, and started firing shots sporadically, waking and causing panic among the pupils, said the school’s owner, Liman Abubakar Bakuso.
Bakuso reported via phone that 15 of his students were successfully kidnapped, with the eldest being 20 and 15 years old, while the rest were all under 13. He also mentioned that a woman was taken as well.
He informed Reuters that we are currently in a state of panic and have been fervently praying for their safe release.
Authorities did not reply to inquiries for statement.
In Nigeria, schools have experienced abductions, initially committed by militant organization Boko Haram. This group captured over 200 students from a girls’ school in Chibok, Borno State ten years ago, sparking worldwide condemnation.
According to authorities, criminal groups without any specific ideology have started using this tactic for obtaining ransom payments.
Nigeria’s security forces are stretched fighting an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, leaving vast swathes of land unpoliced and armed gangs to roam freely.
The governor of Kaduna state informed the BBC that 28 of the schoolchildren who were abducted earlier this week have successfully escaped from their kidnappers.
Before the abduction that took place on Thursday in Kaduna, there had been a decrease in the number of large-scale kidnappings from schools in Nigeria since July 2021, when approximately 150 students were taken by armed individuals.
Source: theguardian.com
