Gunmen attacked a school in Nigeria’s northwest region Thursday and abducted at least 287 students, the headteacher told authorities, marking the second mass abduction in the West African nation in less than a week.
Abductions of students from schools in northern Nigeria are common and have become a source of concern since 2014 when Islamic extremists kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls in Borno state’s Chibok village. In recent years, the abductions have been concentrated in northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for huge ransoms.
Locals told the Associated Press the assailants on Thursday surrounded the government-owned school in Kaduna State’s Kuriga town just as the pupils and students were about to start the school day at around 8 a.m.
Authorities had said earlier that more than 100 students were taken hostage in the attack. Sani Abdullahi, the headteacher, however, told Kaduna Gov. Uba Sani when he visited the town that the total number of those missing after a head count was 287.
“We will ensure that every child will come back. We are working with the security agencies,” the governor told villagers in the area located 89 kilometres from the capital.
No group claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack though blame fell on armed groups that mostly constitute herders who have been accused of carrying out violent attacks and kidnappings for ransom following decades-long pastoral conflict with host communities.
Security forces arrived with the governor several hours later as a search operation widened, while community members and parents gathered to wait for news.
The attack occurred days after more than 200 people, mostly women and children, were abducted by extremists in northeastern Nigeria.
Women, children and students are often targeted in the mass abductions in the conflict-hit northern region and many victims are released only after paying huge ransoms.
Observers say both attacks are a reminder of Nigeria’s worsening security crisis which resulted in the deaths of several hundred people in 2023, according to an AP analysis.
Bola Tinubu was elected president of Nigeria last year after promising to end the violence. But there has been “no tangible improvement in security situation yet” under Mr. Tinubu, said Oluwole Ojewale, West and Central Africa researcher with the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies.
Earlier, Islamic extremists abducted at least 200 people who were out searching for firewood, mostly women and children displaced by violence in northeastern Nigeria, the United Nations office in the country said.
Locals blamed the attack on Islamic extremist rebels who launched an insurgency in Borno in 2009 seeking to establish their radical interpretation of Islamic law in the region. Many of those fleeing the deadly violence are in displacement camps with limited aid, often risking their lives to go to areas with inadequate security presence in search of food and firewood.
The victims of the attack had left several displacement camps in Borno state’s Gamboru Ngala council area when they were ambushed near the border with Chad and taken hostage, the UN said late Wednesday. The incident occurred several days ago but details are only emerging now because of limited access to information in the area.
“The exact number of people abducted remains unknown but is estimated at over 200 people,” the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Nigeria Mohamed Fall said in a statement, adding that some of the victims were later released.
The attacks are a “stark reminder” that women and girls are worst hit by the conflict Mr. Fall said as he called for the immediate release of the victims. “This act of violence against already-traumatized citizens offends our common humanity,” he said.
At least 35,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced due to the violence by the militant Boko Haram group and a breakaway faction backed by the Islamic State group.
Nigerian security forces fighting the insurgents are overstretched as they also battle dozens of armed groups attacking remote communities in other parts of the northern region. The crises have added to pressures on President Tinubu, who was elected last year after promising to end the violence.