Mass abduction: Gunmen kidnap 227 students from Nigerian school
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The incident marks the largest mass abduction from a school since 2021.
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Illustrative: A child studying at a school in Nigeria (UNICEF)
In the northern town of Kuriga, gunmen in Nigeria abducted over 200 school pupils on Thursday, according to a teacher, local councilor, and parents of the missing children. This incident marks the largest mass abduction from a school since 2021.
The incident took place shortly after the morning assembly at the Local Government Education Authority School in the town of Kuriga.
"The number of the kidnapped from the secondary section based on the statistics we took together with the parents is 187 while that of the primary section is 40 for now," said Sani Abdullahi, a home economics teacher, as reported by Reuters.
Idris Maiallura, the local councillor for Kuriga, confirmed that he visited the school and reported that initially, the gunmen abducted 100 primary school pupils, but subsequently released them, with some managing to escape. Parents and residents attributed the kidnapping to the inadequate security measures in the region.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna state visited Kuriga and assured efforts to secure the release of the students, as stated by his office. However, the exact number of missing pupils was not disclosed. Amnesty International urged Nigerian authorities to safely rescue the students and bring the perpetrators to justice.
"We don't know what to do, we are all waiting to see what God can do. They are my only children I have on Earth," Fatima Usman, whose two children were among those abducted, said as quoted by Reuters.
Hassan Abdullahi, another parent, mentioned that local vigilantes attempted to resist the gunmen but were overwhelmed.
"Seventeen of the students abducted are my children. I feel very sad that the government has neglected us completely in this area," Abdullahi said as quoted by the news agency.
It is worth noting that 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. 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.
Read next: Nigeria has 18.5 million children out of school: UNICEF
