Nearly 140 students, kidnapped by armed men from a school in northwestern Nigeria at the beginning of March, have been released, the army and local authorities announced on Sunday March 24.
“The 137 hostages – 76 girls and 61 boys – were rescued in Zamfara State and will be handed over to the Kaduna State government,” where they were abducted, the army spokesperson said. General Edward Buba. According to Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, “the kidnapped Kuriga school students” have been found “safe and sound”.
General Buba told Agence France-Presse that all the captive students had been rescued. The number of victims had previously been estimated at around 250 by teachers and villagers. However, the figures are often revised downwards in Nigeria with the return home of villagers who had fled the attacks but had not been victims.
The children, aged 8 to 15 according to press reports, were taken away on March 7 by armed men who attacked their school in the village of Kuriga, in the northwest of the country.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered security forces on March 13 not to pay ransom for their release. According to relatives of the victims, the kidnappers had demanded a large sum.
Despite a law introduced in 2022 to prohibit handing over money to kidnappers, hundreds of schoolchildren and students have been kidnapped across the country, including in Kaduna state.
Mass kidnappings, a major problem
Kidnapping victims are usually released shortly afterward, following negotiations with local authorities, although state officials still deny that ransoms were paid. It is common for families and entire villages to pool their savings to pay ransoms, because they feel they have no choice.
Mass kidnappings and ransom demands to free kidnapped people are a major problem and affect the entire country, the most populous on the continent. In the past, heavily armed criminal gangs have targeted schools, particularly in the northwest of the country.
In February 2021, armed men attacked a girls’ school in the town of Jangebe, in the northern state of Zamfara, kidnapping more than 300 people. In March, more than 100 women were reported missing in northeastern Nigeria after a kidnapping attributed to jihadists. Many victims of mass kidnappings are still missing.
