On Sunday, Nigerian security forces persisted in scouring forests and establishing roadblocks in the north-west region of the country in hopes of locating hundreds of abducted schoolchildren. However, experts state that thoroughly searching the vast wooded areas could potentially take weeks.
Over 280 children, ranging from seven to 18 years old, were abducted from a school in Kuriga on Thursday. The incident marks one of the largest mass-kidnappings in the past few months in the tumultuous north-west region of Nigeria. In a separate event on Saturday, an additional 15 children were taken from a school in Sokoto.
Recently, there have been two additional instances of collective abductions carried out by armed individuals. These criminal groups specifically target educational institutions, highways, and other areas where they can find large numbers of potential victims to demand ransom from. In a separate incident last week in the state of Borno, over 200 individuals who were mostly women and children displaced by conflict were also captured.
No organization has taken credit for the kidnappings at the school. It is believed that militant extremists conducting a rebellion in the northeastern region were responsible for the abduction in Borno.
Kids who managed to flee from the abductors in Kuriga recounted their traumatic experience after being abducted from their school in a calm farming community approximately 60 miles away from Kaduna, a city in the north-western region. Around 8am on Thursday, when the school’s population of 1,000 students were preparing to begin their lessons, a group of about 30 armed individuals dressed in military attire entered the school premises on motorcycles.
Abubakar, an 18-year-old student in secondary school, was one of the group of children who were forced into the forest and beaten with horsewhips. However, he was able to flee. According to Abubakar, they walked for hours in the intense heat until they were all exhausted. He also revealed that the kidnappers separated the girls and boys, with there being more girls than boys.
Lawan Yaro, a member of a village community, expressed concern as his five grandchildren were among the group that was taken by force. He’s losing hope as he notes that the area has always had security issues, but never to this extreme extent.
Over the past year, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, as reported by Associated Press, indicates that over 3,500 individuals have been kidnapped throughout Nigeria.
“According to James Barnett, a researcher on West Africa at the US-based Hudson Institute, the gangs are adjusting their tactics and solidifying their presence in the north-west by engaging in extortion.”
In April 2014, Boko Haram insurgents caused widespread outrage when they abducted over 250 female students from Chibok in Borno State. Several of these girls remain unaccounted for.
The military of Nigeria is engaged in various battles, such as combating armed criminals in the northwest and addressing an ongoing terrorist rebellion in the northeast which has resulted in the deaths of 40,000 individuals and displacement of over 2 million people since 2009.
Edited by Agence France-Presse and Associated Press.
This report was edited with contributions from Agence France-Presse and Associated Press.
Source: theguardian.com
