More than 280 Nigerian schoolchildren have been abducted in the town of Kuriga in north-western Nigeria, according to officials.
The pupils were taken from the school assembly ground at around 08:30 local time (07:30 GMT) when dozens of gunmen on motorcycles stormed the school, as per a witness account.
The abducted students, aged between eight and 15, were accompanied by a teacher.
Kidnapping gangs, referred to as bandits, have seized thousands of individuals in recent years, particularly in the north-west region.
However, there had been a decline in mass child abductions until this recent incident.
Those kidnapped are typically released following ransom payments.
Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna state encompassing Kuriga, confirmed the mass abduction, stating that 187 students were missing from a secondary school and 125 from a local primary school, with 25 having returned since.
President Bola Tinubu expressed confidence in the victims’ rescue and directed security agencies to swiftly act against the perpetrators.
One 14-year-old pupil, wounded during the attack, succumbed to injuries while receiving medical treatment.
A teacher who managed to escape recounted that locals attempted a rescue but were repelled by the gunmen, resulting in a fatal confrontation.
Zakariyya Nasiru, whose siblings were among those taken, expressed anguish over their situation and described the community’s collective prayer for their safe return.
Almost every family in Kuriga reportedly has a child among the kidnapped.
Security forces have initiated an operation to locate the abducted children, with the governor pledging not to leave any child behind.
In January, bandits killed a school principal in the area and kidnapped his wife.
This kidnapping occurred shortly after reports of dozens of women and children feared abducted by the Boko Haram Islamist group while gathering firewood in north-eastern Nigeria.
Thursday’s attack has been attributed to Ansaru, a splinter faction of Boko Haram, which previously kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014. Ansaru controls nearby territories.
No group has claimed responsibility for either kidnapping.
Most kidnappings in north-west Nigeria, including Kaduna state, are attributed to criminal gangs seeking ransom payments.
To combat Nigeria’s escalating kidnapping industry, a contentious law prohibiting ransom payments was enacted in 2022, carrying a minimum 15-year jail term. However, no arrests have been made.
Earlier this year, the family of a group of sisters kidnapped in the capital, Abuja, refuted police claims of their rescue, stating they were compelled to pay the ransom.
