Abuja, Nov 17 (AP) Gunmen launched a pre-dawn attack on a high school in northwestern Nigeria on Monday, abducting 25 schoolgirls, according to police reports.
Tragically, one staff member was killed and another wounded in this latest incident of school abductions in Nigeria's northern region.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions from the boarding school located in Kebbi state.
Police report that the abduction occurred at 4:00 am when the assailants took the girls from their dormitories in Maga, within the state's Danko-Wasagu area, said police spokesperson Nafi'u Abubakar Kotarkoshi.
These armed attackers wielded “sophisticated weapons” and engaged in a firefight with school guards before taking off with the students, Kotarkoshi stated.
A combined team is actively searching suspected escape routes and nearby forests in a coordinated effort to rescue the abducted students and apprehend those responsible, added the spokesperson.
This assault adds to the ongoing crisis of school kidnappings in Nigeria's northern region, a tragic phenomenon that began in 2014 with the Boko Haram militant group abducting 276 students from Chibok in Borno state.
Kidnappings have become frequent in northern Nigeria, exploited by dozens of armed groups taking advantage of limited security in order to attack villages and travelers.
Hostages are usually released after hefty ransom payments, sometimes reaching thousands of dollars.
In March 2024, over 130 schoolchildren were successfully rescued following more than two weeks of captivity in Kaduna state.
The mass abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok signaled a new era of fear, with nearly 100 of the girls still unaccounted for in 2024.
Since the Chibok incident, more than 1,500 students have been kidnapped, as criminal groups increasingly resort to abductions as a lucrative means of funding other illegal activities and exerting control over the nation's mineral-rich yet poorly policed areas. (AP) GSP
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