Gunmen kidnapped 30 students in Nigeria

Gunmen in northwestern Nigeria abducted about 30 students from a forestry college near a military academy in the fourth kidnapping.

Friday, 12th March 2021

Gunmen in northwestern Nigeria abducted about 30 students from a forestry college near a military academy in the fourth kidnapping of mass schools since December, authorities said. Police said the latest kidnapping Thursday at about 23:30 at the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisatie, Afaka occurred in the Igabi local government area in the state of Kaduna. READ MORE RECENT NEWS HERE "About 30 students, a mix of men and women, have yet to be accounted for," state commissioner for international security and home affairs Samuel Aruwan said in a statement Friday. Several school staff were also abducted, he added. The college is situated on the outskirts of the city of Kaduna, capital of the state of Kaduna, in a region that is roamed by armed gangs, who regularly travel on motorcycles. READ MORE RECENT NEWS HERE "This is the first time that a mass abduction of girls in a higher education institution has taken place," Fidelis Mbah, a journalist in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, told Al Jazeera. 'The gunmen have always targeted secondary schools where younger students attended. This is a new development of their usual way of working. ” Mbah said authorities had yet to comment on which group was behind the abduction. READ MORE RECENT NEWS HERE On Friday morning, family members of students gathered at the gates of the college, which was surrounded by about 20 army trucks. Resident Haruna Salisu said by phone and told Reuters news agency he heard sporadic gunshots around 11:30 p.m. READ MORE RECENT NEWS HERE "We did not panic and thought it was a normal military exercise being carried out at the Nigerian Defense Academy," he said. 'We came out for daily prayers at 05:20 and saw some students, teachers, and security staff all over the school grounds. They told us that gunmen stormed the school and abducted some of the students. ' Salisu said he saw military personnel taking the remaining students to the academy. Lawless region Heavily armed criminal gangs in northwestern and central Nigeria have intensified and kidnapped the attacks over the past few years due to ransom, rape, and looting. The Nigerian army was deployed to the area in 2016, and a peace deal with bandits was signed in 2019, but the attacks continued. READ MORE RECENT NEWS HERE Within the last few weeks, 279 schoolgirls were released after being abducted from their boarding school in Jangebe in the Zamfara state of northern Nigeria, and 27 teenage boys were released after being abducted from their school in the north-central part of Niger, along with three staff. And 12 family members. One student was shot dead in the attack. Before that, in December, more than 300 boys from a school in Kankara, in President Muhammadu Buhari's home state of Katsina, were abducted while the president was visiting the area. READ MORE RECENT NEWS HERE The boys were later released, but the incident sparked anger and memories were recalled of the abduction of at least 276 schoolgirls by the Boko Haram group in Chibok in 2014 that shocked the world. Many of the girls are still missing. Kidnapping for ransom in the most populous country in Africa is a widespread national problem, with businessmen, officials, and citizens being chased off the streets by criminals looking for money. According to SB Morgen, a geopolitical research advisory firm in Lagos, at least $ 11 million was paid to kidnappers between January 2016 and March 2020. In late February, Buhari urged state governments to "review their policies to reward bandits with money and vehicles and warn that the policy could boomerang disastrously." The unrest became a political issue for Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who came under increasing criticism over the increase in violent crime and replaced his longtime military chiefs in February.