Nigeria gunmen kidnap 73 students from high school in northwest
Source: AFP
Nigerian gunmen on Wednesday kidnapped 73 students after storming a high school in the northwest of the country in the latest in a series of mass abductions targeting pupils.
Kidnapping for ransom by armed gangs known locally as bandits has become a grim trend in northwest and central Nigeria, with around 1,000 students snatched this year -- most of them later released.
A large group of gunmen invaded the secondary school in Kaya in the Maradun region of Zamfara State late Wednesday morning, abducting the 73 students, the state police said in a statement.
"The abduction followed the invasion of the school by large numbers of armed bandits," police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said.
Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210901-nigeria-gunmen-kidnap-73-students-from-high-school-in-northwest
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By Nimi Princewill and Sarah Dean, CNN
Updated 8:25 AM ET, Thu September 2, 2021
(CNN) Schools in Nigeria's northwestern Zamfara State have been ordered closed after scores of students were kidnapped by gunmen on Wednesday. At least 73 students were abducted from a state-run high school in Zamfara's Maradun district, local police said in a statement, adding that the high school was targeted by "armed bandits."
"The abduction followed the invasion of the school by a large number of armed bandits," according to Zamfara State Police Command. "A search and rescue team has been deployed to work with the military to locate and rescue the abducted children... Security has also been beefed up at Kaya Village and environ to forestall further attacks on the communities," the statement added.
Zamfara's Information Commissioner, Ibrahim Dosara, told CNN on Thursday that schools in the state have been closed down to avoid further attacks. "We have closed primary and secondary schools in the state," Dosara said, adding "but schools currently writing examinations are asked to stay behind until they finish their examinations... Heavy security presence will be provided to protect those writing exams."
The latest kidnapping comes days after 91 schoolchildren earlier abducted in north-central Niger State were released by their captors after thousands of dollars were paid by their families as ransom.Kidnapping for ransom has become one of the major security challenges in Nigeria, with Zamfara and other neighbouring northwestern states being hit with several mass kidnappings this year.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/02/africa/schools-shut-nigeria-zamfara-intl/index.html
This is sort of the low-tech equivalent to hackers and "ransomware", but with real human lives at stake.
I expect few would demand that these victims, who are usually women and children, be permitted to migrate here to the U.S.
