Armed group kidnaps nearly 300 schoolchildren in Nigeria German troops arrive in Lithuania for major NATO maneuvers

Nearly 300 schoolchildren have been kidnapped in the West African country of Nigeria, according to reports from a teacher and the media. An armed group attacked a primary and secondary school in Kuriga town in northwestern Kaduna state on Thursday morning. A teacher, Sani Abdullahi, told local television station Kaduna State Media Television that 187 secondary school students and 125 primary school students were initially reported missing on Thursday. Of these, 25 children have now returned.

It initially remained unclear whether the children were able to escape from the kidnappers or were in hiding. On Friday morning, 287 girls and boys were still missing. According to media reports, a teacher was also kidnapped.

Always kidnappings

Since 2014, the Islamist terrorist militia Boko Haram and criminal groups have kidnapped scores of women and children in the north of Africa’s most populous country of about 220 million people. This may involve extortion of ransoms, forced recruitment into armed groups or sexual violence.

According to the teacher, the building was surrounded by heavily armed men shortly before school started at 8 a.m. local time (8 a.m. CET). The perpetrators forced the approximately 700 students and teachers to go to an adjacent forest areaAbdullahi said. However, many children and adults were able to escape. Shortly afterwards, a local vigilante group tried to chase down the perpetrators, the teacher said. A member of the vigilante group was killed.

Kaduna Senator Uba Sani confirmed the incident but did not provide figures on the number of casualties. With a ‘bleeding heart’ he had the community report on the kidnapping. Sani said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. He will ensure that everything is done to free the students. President Bola Tinubu and the national security adviser were also briefed, Sani wrote.

A member of the Kuriga Municipal Council tearfully lamented the inadequate security situation in the area. The area where the school is located is considered a crime hotspot. Smaller groups of people, mainly women and children, have been kidnapped in Kaduna State in recent months.

At the end of February, a mass kidnapping of internally displaced persons took place in the northeastern state of Borno. According to United Nations estimates, more than 200 people were kidnapped. In this case too, the exact number of abductees was not known.

According to economic and security consultancy SB Morgen, Nigeria’s struggling economy, rising inflation and high unemployment have made ransom payments the main reason for kidnappings. According to SB Morgen, in the twelve months between July 2022 and June 2023 alone, 3,620 people were kidnapped in 582 kidnapping incidents in Nigeria. the vast majority of them in Kaduna.

Almost exactly ten years ago, in April 2014, the kidnapping of 276 students from their boarding school in the city of Chibok caused worldwide horror. They had been kidnapped by Boko Haram fighters, who often forced girls and young women into forced marriages or abused them as sex or domestic slaves. Many girls are still missing. (saw/sda/dpa)