Over 70 high school students kidnapped in northwest Nigeria
A classroom in a school in Jangebe, Zamfara State, where 300 young girls were abducted in early 2021. AP - Sunday Alamba
Text by: RFI Follow
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In Nigeria, 73 high school students were kidnapped yesterday Wednesday in the town of Kaya, in the northwestern state of Zamfara.
This is the result of a long series of kidnappings that has hit this part of Nigeria for several months.
According to the police, groups of bandits have made kidnapping students a real business.
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It was in the morning that "
a large number of armed bandits invaded
" Kaya high school and kidnapped 73 students, said Zamfara police spokesman in a statement.
This morning the state's primary and secondary schools are temporarily closed and the police claim to be hard at work to obtain the release of high school students.
For several months, kidnappings in schools
have been increasing
in the northern and central states of the country.
Nearly 1,000 students have been kidnapped since the start of the year.
Most of them are freed for ransom, like the 18 students of an agricultural school in Zamfara kidnapped in mid-August and released last week.
These kidnappings are the work of criminal groups, hidden in the Rugu forest in the north of the country.
The police believe that they have no connection at the moment with the terrorist groups which work in this part of Nigeria like Boko Haram, but nevertheless fear a possible rapprochement.
To curb their progress, four northwestern states have taken measures such as restricting motorcycle traffic, the sale of fuel, and the suspension of markets and the transportation of livestock.
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