hostage taking
Gunmen kidnap 227 children from school in Nigeria
In Nigeria, over 200 students were allegedly kidnapped (archive photo)
© Kola Sulaimon / AFP
Kidnappings occur again and again in the African country. Now the allegedly largest mass kidnapping since 2021 has occurred at a school. A vigilante group tried to stop the attackers.
Gunmen attacked in the West African country on Thursday Nigeria apparently kidnapped 227 children from a school in the northern city of Kuriga. “According to the statistics we compiled with parents, the number of abductees is 187 in secondary school and 40 in primary school,” said Sani Abdullahi, a home economics teacher at the affected school. The abductions are said to have taken place shortly after the morning school assembly at the Local Government Education Authority School in Kuriga.
According to the teacher, a local council member and the parents of the missing children, it is believed to be the largest mass abduction from a school since 2021. Parents and residents blamed the abduction on the lack of security in the area. The police in Kaduna state have not yet responded to inquiries about the kidnappings.
Kidnappings occur again and again in Nigeria
Kaduna Governor Uba Sani visited Kuriga and pledged to work for the students’ release, but did not say how many students were missing. Amnesty International called on the Nigerian authorities to bring the students to safety and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Hassan Abdullahi, the father of several kidnapped children, told Reuters that local vigilantes tried to fight off the gunmen but were overwhelmed.
Kidnappings for ransom by armed men are not uncommon in northern Nigeria. The last major kidnapping of school children in Kaduna was reported in July 2021 when gunmen abducted more than 150 students in a raid. The children were reunited with their families months later after they paid a ransom.