Another mass kidnapping in Nigeria.
On the night of Thursday 25 to Friday 16 February, dozens of armed men invaded a school in the northeast of the country and kidnapped a large number of young girls, according to local sources.
"More than 300 girls are still missing," a teacher at the Jangebe school in Zamfara state told AFP, who wishes to remain anonymous.
"I am on the road to Jangebe," said Sadi Kawaye, a father whose two daughters have been kidnapped.
"I received a call to inform me that bandits had kidnapped students," he said.
This is a new mass kidnapping for ransom in this region, where armed groups called "bandits" terrorize populations, steal livestock and loot villages.
Third kidnapping in three months
Last week, 42 children were abducted in Niger state, in west-central Nigeria, and more than 300 boys were also abducted in early December in Kankara in Katsina state.
>> Nigeria: "This new kidnapping marks the failure of President Buhari's security policy"
These criminal gangs often hide in camps in the Rugu Forest, which spans four states in northern and central Nigeria: Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Niger.
These criminals are motivated by greed, but some have forged strong links with jihadist groups present in the northeast.
The violence has killed more than 8,000 people since 2011, and forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes, according to a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank published in May 2020.
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR