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Gunmen attacked a college in Nigeria’s northwest area Thursday and kidnapped no less than 287 college students, the top trainer instructed authorities, marking the second mass abduction within the West African nation in lower than per week.
Abductions of scholars from faculties in northern Nigeria are frequent and have develop into a supply of concern since 2014 when Islamic extremists kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls in Borno state’s Chibok city. Lately, the abductions have been concentrated in northwestern and central areas, the place dozens of armed teams typically goal villagers and travellers for large ransoms.
Locals instructed The Related Press the assailants on Thursday surrounded the government-owned faculty in Kaduna State’s Kuriga city simply because the pupils and college students have been about to start out the varsity day.
Authorities had mentioned earlier that greater than 100 college students have been taken hostage within the assault. Sani Abdullahi, the top trainer, nevertheless, instructed Kaduna Gov. Uba Sani when he visited the city that the overall variety of these lacking after a headcount was 287.
“We’ll make sure that each youngster will come again. We’re working with the safety companies,” the governor instructed villagers within the space situated 89 kilometres from the capital.
No fast declare of duty
No group instantly claimed duty for Thursday’s assault.
Safety forces arrived with the governor a number of hours later as a search operation widened, whereas neighborhood members and oldsters gathered to attend for information.
The assault occurred days after greater than 200 individuals, largely ladies and youngsters, have been kidnapped by extremists in northeastern Nigeria.
Ladies, kids and college students are sometimes focused within the mass abductions within the conflict-hit northern area, and plenty of victims are launched solely after paying large ransoms.
Observers say each assaults are a reminder of Nigeria’s worsening safety disaster, which resulted within the deaths of a number of hundred individuals in 2023, in keeping with an evaluation by The Related Press.
Bola Tinubu was elected president of Nigeria final 12 months after promising to finish the violence.
However there was “no tangible enchancment in safety state of affairs but” underneath Tinubu, mentioned Oluwole Ojewale, West and Central Africa researcher with the Africa-focused Institute for Safety Research.
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