Nigeria – Armed attackers kidnap 140 students from a High School in Kaduna state; 1,000 students abducted since December

Armed attackers stormed the Bethel Baptist High School on Monday located in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state in Nigeria’s northwest. The attackers opened fire and overpowered security guards after storming the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state in the early hours of Monday, abducting most of the 165 pupils boarding there overnight.

They kidnapped 140 students in the early hours, 24 students escaped and police confirmed rescuing 26 students to safety, including a teacher, reports AfricaNews. A school official was reported saying that this was the latest in a wave of mass abductions targeting schoolchildren and students in Africa’s most populous nation.

The attack on the Bethel Baptist High School is the 10th mass school kidnapping since December in northwest Nigeria, which authorities have attributed to armed bandits seeking ransom payments. Locals say that the kidnappers are associated with Jihadi groups like the Boko Haram and Al Qaeda local chapter.

Dozens of distraught parents gathered at the school compound, some weeping and crying out, standing in groups awaiting news. Discarded sandals lay strewn nearby. Dormitories containing metal bunk beds and cupboards were deserted.

“May God take away their tears and the suffering that they will face in the hands of the kidnappers,” said a woman to AFP News pointing at a hole in the school’s perimeter where the attackers entered.

Kaduna authorities ordered the immediate closure of Bethel Baptist and 12 other schools in the area after Monday’s kidnapping, without saying when they may reopen.

A Festering Malaise

Heavily-armed criminal gangs in northwest and central Nigeria often attack villages to loot, steal cattle and abduct for ransom. However, since the beginning of the year they have increasingly targeted schools and colleges.

About 1,000 students and pupils have been abducted in Nigeria since December. Most of them have been released after negotiations with local officials, although more than 150 remain missing.

Often, gangs target rural schools and colleges where students stay in dormitories and security is light, allowing them to easily transport large numbers of victims to forest hideouts to negotiate ransoms.

In February, President Muhammadu Buhari urged state governments “to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles,” warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously. The unrest has become a political problem for Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who has faced mounting criticism over prominent attacks by the gangs.