- By Mansur Abubakar
- BBC News, Kano
Image supply, Getty Images
Kidnap gangs have plagued a lot of the nation in recent years, particularly the north-west
More than 280 Nigerian college pupils have been kidnapped within the north-western city of Kuriga, officers say.
The pupils have been within the meeting floor round 08:30 (07:30 GMT) when dozens of gunmen on bikes rode by the varsity, one witness stated.
The college students, between the ages of eight and 15, have been taken away, together with a instructor, they added.
Kidnap gangs, referred to as bandits, have seized hundreds of individuals in recent years, particularly the north-west.
However, there had been a discount within the mass abduction of kids over the previous 12 months till this week.
Those kidnapped are often freed after a ransom is paid.
The mass abduction was confirmed by Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna state, which incorporates Kuriga.
He stated 187 college students had gone lacking from a secondary college and 125 from the native main college however that 25 had since returned.
President Bola Tinubu stated he was “assured that the victims can be rescued”.
Sympathising with the households of those that had been taken, the president added that he had “directed safety and intelligence businesses to right away rescue the victims and be certain that justice is served in opposition to the perpetrators of those abominable acts”.
One pupil, believed to be 14-years-old, who had been shot by the gunmen and was being handled in hospital, has since died.
A instructor who managed to flee stated native folks had tried to rescue the youngsters, however they have been repelled by the gunmen and one person was killed within the shootout.
Zakariyya Nasiru, who had a brother and sister taken hostage, informed the BBC the household have been unable to sleep on Thursday night time.”All of us could not sleep as we hold serious about them. We are right here praying for his or her secure return.”Mr Nasiru stated one boy had escaped final night time and had introduced again harrowing experiences of their situations, together with a scarcity of meals.
Almost each household within the city is assumed to have a toddler amongst these kidnapped.
The armed forces have launched an operation to seek out them. “No baby can be left behind,” vowed the governor.
In January, bandits killed a college principal within the space and kidnapped his spouse.
Thursday’s attack has been blamed on Ansaru, a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, which kidnapped greater than 200 schoolgirls from the city of Chibok in 2014. Ansaru controls close by areas.
No group has stated it carried out both of the kidnappings.
Most of the kidnaps in north-west Nigeria, together with Kaduna state, are believed to be the work of felony gangs making an attempt to make money from ransoms.
In an try to curb Nigeria’s spiralling and profitable kidnapping business, a controversial regulation that has made it against the law to make ransom funds was handed in 2022. It carries a jail sentence of at the least 15 years, nonetheless no-one has ever been arrested.
Earlier this 12 months, the household of a gaggle of sisters kidnapped within the capital, Abuja, denied a police assertion that the safety forces had rescued the ladies, saying that that they had no selection however to pay the ransom.
