15 students kidnapped from school in Nigeria as abduction crimes surge
2 Min Read
The head of the school says that the oldest of the students that were kidnapped was 20 and the youngest 15.
-
An empty classroom at a school where gunmen abducted students in Katsina, northern Nigeria in 2020. (AFP)
At least 15 students and a woman were kidnapped on Saturday by militants who stormed a school in Nigeria's Gidan Bakuso town in the Sokoto State, and opened random fire on the premises, Reuters reported.
This crime came just days after more than 250 students were kidnapped by an armed militia in Kaduna state from the Kuriga school. Meanwhile, the state's governor informed British broadcaster BBC that at least 28 of the schoolchildren managed to escape.
"They succeeded in abducting 15 of my students, the oldest being 20 and 15, but all the others are below 13," said the school owner in Sokoto village, Liman Abubakar Bakuso
"We are in a state of panic and have been praying hard for their safe release," he told the news site in a phone call.
Read more: Death toll from attacks in north-central Nigeria rises to 113
The Boko Haram terrorist group carried out the first known kidnapping more than a decade ago, when they abducted 276 students from a girls' school in Chibok in Borno state. Around 100 girls remain missing to this day.
Rampant kidnappings for ransom by armed individuals have become a pervasive issue in northern Nigeria, causing disruptions to daily life and preventing numerous children from accessing education.
Authorities say that criminal gangs without any ideological affiliation have adopted the tactic, seeking ransom payments.
The most recent significant incident of schoolchildren abduction in Kaduna was reported in July 2021, where over 150 students were taken by gunmen.
The students were eventually reunited with their families after ransom payments were made.
