Armed gunmen kidnapped at least 15 students from an Islamic school in Sokoto State, northwest Nigeria, according to local sources.
This incident occurred two days after 280 children were kidnapped from their school in Kaduna State on Thursday.
Gunmen stormed the village of Gidan Bako in the Gada area early Saturday and kidnapped 15 students, as reported by the school’s director, Lyman Abubakar.
He said, “The gunmen were walking in front of the institution with a woman they had kidnapped in another part of the town. The students woke up to her screams.”
He added that the gunmen “kidnapped 15 students aged between 8 and 14 years old and took them along with the woman.”
Dauda, a senior member of the Sokoto State Parliament, confirmed the kidnapping, saying, “I received a call early this morning from my constituency that bandits kidnapped 15 students from a school.”
Kidnappings are on the rise in the northwest of the country. Kidnapped individuals are usually released after a ransom is paid by their relatives, while those who do not pay are killed by their captors, and their bodies are left in the forests.
The Nigerian education system is grappling with multiple crises, with mass kidnappings of schoolchildren posing a severe threat. Between December 2020 and March 2021, over 600 children were abducted in three separate incidents, exacerbating the already critical situation in northern Nigeria, the most educationally disadvantaged region of the country. The increase in such kidnappings, motivated by economic gains rather than political agendas, has led to heightened insecurity, particularly in schools located in remote areas with inadequate protective measures. This situation has severely eroded community and parental trust in the education system and could significantly hinder access to quality and equitable education.
Kidnappings in Nigeria have become a lucrative enterprise, with at least $18.34 million paid as ransom between June 2011 and March 2020. The kidnappings, initially concentrated in the oil-rich Niger Delta region targeting expatriates, have spread across the country, affecting people of various social strata. Recent years have seen a shift in focus to more vulnerable targets such as schoolchildren and women, exacerbating the crisis in the education sector.
Recent incidents underscore the severity of the situation, with gunmen killing 14 people and abducting 60 in Zamfara state. This is part of a broader pattern of widespread insecurity affecting various regions of Nigeria, with attacks and kidnappings by armed gangs, known locally as bandits, becoming increasingly common.
The problem of mass abductions and insecurity has led to various responses, including the Safe Schools Initiative launched in May 2014 to enhance school security. However, the initiative has faced challenges due to mismanagement of resources, corruption, and weak accountability mechanisms, undermining its effectiveness. Additionally, some Nigerian states have attempted peace deals and amnesty with bandits, but these measures have been fraught with challenges, leading to continued attacks and kidnappings.
