Nigerian authorities confirmed the abduction of 136 children on Sunday

Nigerian authorities confirm 136 children abducted from Muslim school in Niger statein central Nigeria on Sunday by a group of armed men.

“Niger state government confirms that the number of students abducted by bandits is 136,” the local government said in a Twitter post on Wednesday evening.

Security forces and authorities “are doing everything possible to ensure the safe return of children», Assures the local government.

However, they are acting “with caution in pursuing bandits to avoid collateral damage,” the post added.

State authorities have also requested assistance from the federal government to “Better equip” the security forces who must face “these bandits”.

On Sunday afternoon, scores of armed men arrived on motorbikes in the town of Tegina, where they began shooting, killing one resident and injuring another, before abducting the children.

Some 200 minors were in the school at the time of the attack. Many managed to escape, while the kidnappers left several, between 4 and 12 years old, because “they were too young to walk”.one of the school officials informed AFP.

The attack is the latest in a series of student kidnappings in recent months in central and northwestern Nigeria, where armed gangs have terrorized populations for a decade, looted villages, steal livestock and carry out mass kidnappings to demand ransom.

Without counting the schoolchildren abducted on Sunday, at least 730 children and adolescents have been abducted since 2020.

In February, More than 300 Nigerian schoolgirls have been kidnapped. According to the Nigerian newspaper Daily trust, the attackers broke into the Girls’ public high school, in Jangebe, and abducted the students, whom police eventually confirmed were 317, after different versions that indicated that they were over 500.

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