Armed group kidnapped hundreds of female students in another attack on a school in northwest Nigeria

Several hundred students were kidnapped early Friday from a school in Nigerian Zamfara state, in the northwest of the country, by unidentified armed people, according to local media.

According to information collected by the newspaper Daily trust, the attackers broke into the Government secondary school for girls, in Jangebe, and kidnapped a currently unknown number of students. The media emphasized 300 hostages, but a testimony published by the same media cites school sources which indicate that there are 550 missing girls.

A worker at the center told the newspaper ‘Punch’ On condition of anonymity, the attackers broke into the downtown hostel and kidnapped more than 300 students. Father and teacher seen by UK TV channel BBC reported similar figures.

A resident of Kawaye village confirmed that his two daughters were among those abducted. “I’m going to Jangebe to see the situation. They told me that they invaded the school at around 1 a.m. (local time) “, Told.

The attackers reportedly arrived at the school after attacking an army checkpoint in the area, according to the news portal PM News Nigeria, although there is currently no information on the victims. The government has not commented on the incident at this time.

This is another massive kidnapping to demand ransom in this region, where criminal groups terrorize the population, steal livestock and loot villages.

Last week a few 40 people (including 27 students) were kidnapped in Niger State, in west-central Nigeria, and more than 300 teenagers had suffered the same fate in early December in Kankara, in the state of Katsina.

The Kankara teens were released after a week of captivity and after negotiations between gangs and local governments.

The kidnapping caused upheaval of the world and remembered the one over 200 Boko Haram girls in Chibok (northeast), in 2014.

These criminal gangs are motivated by greed, but some have links to jihadist groups present in the Northeast.

(With information from Europa Press and AFP)

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