Armed group stormed school and abducted hundreds of students in Nigeria

Gunmen raided a boarding school in northern Niger on Tuesday evening, kidnapping “hundreds” of students and several teachers, A local official and a security source informed AFP.

This massive kidnapping is happening two months after criminal groups abducted 344 teenagers from a boarding school in neighboring Katsina state. After negotiating with the authorities, the students were released a week later.

“The bandits entered the government school in Kagara last night and kidnapped hundreds of students and their teachers,” said a local official, who requested anonymity.

The armed men, “very numerous”, dressed in military uniforms, they took the students to the forest, according to this source.

“One of the employees and some students managed to escape. Staff confirmed that a student was shot ” during the attack, the official added.

This high school has about a thousand students, but at the moment the exact number of kidnapped teenagers is unknown.

“A count is underway to establish the exact number of abducted students. We hope everyone who fled school will come back for the count “said a security source.

Military troops with air support were search for kidnappers and hostages for a possible rescue operation, said the source.

For almost a decade, Northwest and central Nigeria is ravaged by violence from criminal groups known locally as “bandits”, which increase kidnappings for ransom and cattle rustling.

These criminal gangs are motivated by greed, but some have close ties to jihadist groups present in the northeast.

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