Gunmen kidnap over 200 students from Kaduna school

Gunmen have kidnapped more than 200 students from a school in the northern town of Kuriga, according to a teacher, local councillor and parents of the missing children. 

Police in Kaduna state did not respond to requests for comment on the abductions, which happened shortly after morning assembly on Thursday (local time) at the local government school in the town of Kuriga.

“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,” said Sani Abdullahi, a home economics teacher.

It is the biggest mass abduction from a Nigerian school since 2021.

Local councillor Idris Maiallura said the gunmen initially took 100 primary schools pupils but later freed them while others escaped.

Parents and residents blamed the kidnapping on lack of security in the area.

Security forces arrived with Kaduna state Governor, Uba Sani as a search operation widened, while members of the community and parents gathered to wait for news.

“We will ensure that every child will come back,” the governor told villagers in the area 89 kilometres from the capital.

“We are working with the security agencies.”

Amnesty International has called on Nigerian authorities to safely rescue the students and hold perpetrators to account.

“We don’t know what to do, we are all waiting to see what God can do,” Fatima Usman, whose two children were among those abducted, said.

“They are my only children I have on Earth.”

Another parent said local vigilantes had tried to repel the gunmen, but had been overpowered.