Kidnappers abduct 317 schoolgirls in Nigeria in armed night-time raid
Source: The Guardian
Police have said 317 schoolgirls have been abducted in north-west Nigeria, the third mass kidnapping of students in three months in an escalating wave of rural attacks blamed on groups of armed bandits.
The schoolgirls were abducted at about 1am from the town of Jangebe, Zamfara state, from the Jangebe government girls secondary school, police said on Friday.
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A local government official in Zamfara said the gunmen shot sporadically and took the girls away. Information available to me said they came with vehicles and moved the students, they also moved some on foot, Sulaiman Tanau Anka, an information commissioner, told Reuters.
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A surge in armed militancy by several armed bandit groups in Africas most populous country has caused mounting dismay, amid a breakdown of security, particularly in rural areas. The groups operate from forest hideouts spanning north-western Nigeria into Niger, where they have launched attacks, kidnappings, theft and sexual violence on rural towns and villages.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/kidnappers-abduct-schoolchildren-in-nigeria
Make7
(8,543 posts)How morally bankrupt must a group of people be to target large groups of children?
Bayard
(22,168 posts)I don't see how the government can continue to pay ransoms, and it increases the crimes.
SharonAnn
(13,779 posts)scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)(CNN)Hundreds of schoolboys who were abducted last week in northwestern Nigeria have been freed, according to a state official.
More than 300 schoolboys were missing for nearly a week, after an attack on the Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State. The Nigerian military late on Thursday rescued 344 of them, and they have been received at the state capital by governor Aminu Bello Masari, according to his spokesperson, Abdu Labaran.
Boko Haram was not involved, he added, but rather the boys were kidnapped by bandits masquerading as the Islamist terrorist group.
jimfields33
(15,978 posts)I remember last time our First Lady Obama got involved. Now its happening with the Bidens. That pisses me off!!!!!
oldsoftie
(12,615 posts)jimfields33
(15,978 posts)Regardless, I hope this stops. So traumatic for the kids even when returned.
Marcuse
(7,519 posts)Kingofalldems
(38,487 posts)EX500rider
(10,872 posts)riversedge
(70,310 posts)FlyingPiggy
(3,384 posts)rockfordfile
(8,704 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,368 posts)The girls were abducted by unidentified gunmen from their boarding school in Jangebe, Zamfara state, on Friday and taken to a forest, police said.
The state's governor said on Tuesday that the group had been freed and the girls were now safe.
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Mr Matawalle has denied paying for the girls to be released, but last week President Muhammadu Buhari admitted state governments had paid kidnappers "with money and vehicles" in the past and urged them to review the policy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-56249626
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Sounds like that may explain why the frequency of these mass kidnappings has stepped up.