More than 200 schools students were kidnapped in the Nigerian town Kuriga on Thursday, the news agency Reuters reported on Friday citing a teacher, local councillor and parents of the missing children. Speaking to Reuters, Sani Abdullahi, a home economics teacher, said, “The number of the kidnapped from the secondary section based on the statistics we took together with the parents is 187 while that of the primary section is 40 for now.”
The gunmen initially took 100 primary schools pupils but later freed them while others escaped, Kuriga’s local councillor Idris Maiallura said.
A lack of security blamed on kidnappings
Parents and residents blamed the kidnappings on a lack of security in the town. Fatima Usman, whose two children were among those abducted, told the news agency, “We don’t know what to do, we are all waiting to see what God can do. They are my only children I have on Earth.”
Another parent said that local vigilantes had tried to repel the gunmen but had been overpowered.
Kaduna state Governor Uba Sani’s office said that he visited Kuriga and promised to get the students released.
Amnesty International condemns kidnappings
Meanwhile, Amnesty International called on Nigerian authorities to safely rescue the students and hold perpetrators to account.
“Schools should be places of safety, and no child should have to choose between their education and their life. The Nigerian authorities must take measures immediately to prevent attacks on schools, to protect children’s lives and their right to education,” Amnesty International said in a post on X.
The last such kidnapping involving school children in in Kaduna was in July 2021 when gunmen took more than 150 students in a raid. The students were re-united months later with their families after they paid ransoms.
(With inputs from agencies)
