Nigeria: attack on school, possibly kidnapping of hundreds of pupils
Nigeria, over 300 students disappeared after school attack
Nigeria, Boko Haram: we have kidnapped the students
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16 December 2020At least 17 students kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists from a school in northwestern Nigeria would have been rescued, but two of them died during the operation.
The government of the city of Katsina, where the school from which the children were kidnapped is located, is doing everything possible to snatch them from the hands of the bloodthirsty terrorists.
Official Aminu Masari told a local radio station that he had ordered a rescue operation for the approximately 300 teenage students kidnapped in the raid on Friday.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the operation she teaches and which recalls that of Chibok in 2014, when hundreds of students were kidnapped.
The surrounding bush helps the innocent "Most of the kidnapped students are in the forest of Zamfara, in the neighboring province. Efforts are underway to save them," the governor said.
Katsina state police spokesman Gambo Isah said a security guard was injured during the operation and additional forces will be sent to the area for search and rescue.
Parents and residents are desperate and are demanding the release of their children, while the defense minister, Bashir Salihi Magashi, went to the place, promising that the students will be saved.
However, the number of kidnapped remains unclear: 320 or 333 according to two institutional sources, while residents in Kankara speak of more than 500.
According to local sources, Boko Haram would have recruited three local gangs in northwestern Nigeria precisely with the goal to kidnap hundreds of students on his behalf.
The blitz was carried out, 'on commission' by Boko Haram, by a well-known local criminal named Awwalun Daudawa, who allegedly collaborated with two other crime leaders with a strong following, Idi Minorti and Dankarami.
Their gangs have been terrorizing communities in northwestern Nigeria for years, and experts recently warned of attempts by Islamists to forge an alliance with them.
Someone saw Daudawa himself in the forest of the Kankara area, it seems that he "was planning something but it was not clear what", while another source said that "Daudawa was given order by Abubakar Shekau (leader of Boko Haram) to kidnap the students, enlisting the help of those criminal groups. After the children were kidnapped, they went to the Zamfara state border and split into different gangs to 'keep themselves safe. And some gangs did. they are (then) put in contact with the authorities for the release of the children ".