The President of Nigeria mobilized security forces on Friday March 8 to find more than 250 students kidnapped by armed men during an attack on a school in the northwest, in one of the largest mass kidnappings in three years in this country.

This kidnapping, which occurred Thursday in Kaduna state, is the second in a week in Africa's most populous country, where heavily armed criminal gangs regularly target victims in villages, schools, churches, or on the highway, for ransom purposes.

A teacher and several residents told AFP that at least 250 students, possibly 280, had been kidnapped.

Local authorities in Kaduna confirmed the kidnapping at the Kuriga school, but did not specify the number of students kidnapped, which is currently being assessed.

At least one person was killed in the attack, residents said.

According to Sani Abdullahi, one of the teachers at GSS Kuriga School in Chikun district, the staff managed to escape with many students as the gunmen fired into the air.

“We are trying to determine the real number of children kidnapped,” he told local officials Thursday evening.

“At Kuriga secondary school, 187 children are missing, while at primary school, 125 children were missing, but 25 returned,” he detailed.

According to a resident interviewed by AFP, Muhammad Adma, "more than 280 children were kidnapped."

Another resident, Musa Muhammed, reported hearing early in the morning "shooting from bandits (...) They kidnapped the students and their teachers, almost 200 people."

“We implore the government (...) to help us with security,” he added.

“Justice will be delivered decisively”

This kidnapping comes a few days after a previous kidnapping of more than 100 women and children last week in a camp for displaced people in Borno state (northwest) by suspected jihadists.

These facts illustrate the immense security challenge facing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in power since last year.

“I have received information from security chiefs on the two incidents, and I am hopeful that the victims will be rescued,” the president said in a statement ordering security forces to hunt down the kidnappers.

“Justice will be delivered decisively,” he promised.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to power promising, like his predecessors, to tackle insecurity, fueled by jihadist groups, bandits in the northeast and the outbreak of intercommunal violence in the central states.

No official figures on the number of people kidnapped have been released at this stage.

“As of now, we do not know the number of children or students who have been kidnapped,” Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani told reporters at the scene.

“No child will be abandoned,” he assured.

Estimates of the number of people kidnapped or missing in Nigeria often drop after those who managed to flee attackers return home.

“No child should have to choose between their education and their life”

Amnesty International has condemned the kidnappings in Kaduna, calling on Nigerian authorities to better protect schools.

Mass abductions in Nigeria this week of more than 400 displaced persons in Borno state and 287 students and teachers in Kuriga Kaduna state are a shocking indictment of the authorities' persistent failure to protect the people from attacks by armed groups: https://t. co/j3QCJ3NAnJ

— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) March 8, 2024

“Schools should be places of safety, and no child should have to choose between their education and their life,” said the rights group on X. “Nigerian authorities must take immediate action to prevent attacks on schools.

In recent years, hundreds of children and students have been kidnapped in mass kidnappings in northwest and central Nigeria.

Most were released after payment of a ransom, after several weeks or months of captivity in camps hidden in the forests of the northwestern states of the country.

Nearly ten years ago, Boko Haram jihadists kidnapped more than 250 schoolgirls from Chibok, in northeastern Nigeria, sparking international outcry.

Some of them are still missing.

In February 2021, armed men attacked a girls' school in the town of Jangebe, in Zamfara state (north), kidnapping more than 300 people.

Between July 2022 and June 2023, 3,620 people were kidnapped in 582 attacks in the country, according to Nigerian risk management consultancy, SBM Intelligence.

With AFP

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application