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Why schoolchildren are being abducted in Nigeria
Since December, more than 600 students have been abducted from schools in north-west Nigeria, highlighting a worrying development in the country s kidnap-for-ransom crisis.
Friday s kidnapping of 317 students from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara state, was the second mass kidnap from schools in less than 10 days. Twenty-seven boys and their teachers who were taken from a school in Kagara, Niger state on 17 February were released on Saturday.
The authorities say recent attacks on schools in the north-west have been carried out by bandits , a loose term for kidnappers, armed robbers, cattle rustlers, Fulani herdsmen and other armed militia operating in the region who are largely motivated by money.
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The authorities must do more to strengthen security in our schools
With Zamfara, Kano and some other northern states ordering the closure of boarding schools following the spike in kidnapping of students by bandits, it’s clear that the future of millions of Nigerian children is in jeopardy. Barely a week after 27 students and 15 others were abducted from Government Science College, Kagara in Niger State, bandits struck again in Zamfara State, carting away 317 female students from Government Secondary School, Jangebe.
Although we may never know how much was paid for their freedom, we are nonetheless gratified that the Niger State abductees were released yesterday. But questions continue to be asked about why in this age of drones, google maps and aerial surveillance, dozens of students can be taken away from single locations without their abductors being confronted by the authorities. Besides, why were there such security lapses around soft and obviously vulnerable targets, especi
More than 300 schoolgirls have been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from a school in Nigeria s north-western Zamfara state, police say.
A deserted school dormitory where some of the more than 300 girls had been sleeping prior to the kidnapping.
Photo: AFP
Security officers have been dispatched to the town of Jangebe where the girls were seized early on Friday morning.
Local officials have confirmed the attack but have not given more details.
This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom.
At least 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped last week in Kagara, in neighbouring Niger state, are yet to be released.