At least 15 students were taken by armed assailants during a morning attack on a school in Nigeria on Saturday. This comes just days after another raid in which around 300 children were kidnapped.
According to Liman Abubakar Bakuso, owner of the school located in Gidan Bakuso village in Sokoto, a group of gunmen entered the premises and began shooting, causing disruption and fear among the students.
Bakuso reported by phone that 15 of his students were abducted, with the oldest being 20 and the rest being under 13. He also mentioned that a woman was taken.
He informed Reuters that we are currently in a state of distress and have been fervently praying for their safe return.
The police did not reply to inquiries for a statement.
About ten years ago, the extremist group Boko Haram was responsible for the initial kidnappings at schools in Nigeria. They took over 200 students from a girls’ school in Chibok, located in the state of Borno. This event sparked widespread anger and condemnation around the world.
However, authorities report that criminal organizations with no specific beliefs have also begun using this strategy for monetary gain.
The security forces in Nigeria are currently occupied battling an Islamist insurgency in the northern part of the country, resulting in large areas of land being unpatrolled and allowing armed groups to move around without restriction.
The governor of Kaduna reported to the BBC that 28 of the abducted school children were able to flee from their abductors earlier this week.
Prior to the kidnapping that occurred on Thursday in Kaduna, there had been a decrease in incidents of large-scale abductions from schools in Nigeria since July 2021, when approximately 150 students were taken by armed individuals.
Source: theguardian.com
