Authorities in Nigeria say that safety forces have rescued 14 of at the very least 20 college students kidnapped from their college within the nation’s northwestern area, and that they are looking for these nonetheless held captive
ByCHINEDU ASADU Related Press
September 25, 2023, 2:45 PM
ABUJA, Nigeria — Safety forces rescued 14 out of at the very least 20 college students kidnapped from a college in northwestern Nigeria and had been looking for the remaining captives, faculty authorities stated Monday
Gunmen attacked the college within the hard-hit Zamfara state’s Bungudu district final week and fled with the scholars and a few staff within the first mass faculty abduction within the West African nation since President Bola Tinubu took workplace in Might.
Such abductions of scholars from faculties are frequent in Nigeria’s northwest and central areas the place armed teams typically take folks hostage in change for big ransoms which analysts have stated assist them to purchase weapons and maintain their operations.
The 14 college students from the Federal College Gusau had been rescued alongside two different folks, a press release from the college stated, with out additional particulars about once they had been freed or the character of the rescue operation.
“The unhappy and unlucky incident has certainly thrown the College neighborhood into severe stress and apprehension,” the assertion stated, including that safety forces had been “doing their greatest” to rescue the remaining college students. It additionally stated steps had been being taken to spice up safety across the college.
The newest assault poses a brand new problem to Tinubu who prolonged the ruling social gathering’s reign together with his election victory after promising to resolve the nation’s safety disaster. It provides to rising strain from the opposition and activists who’ve accused Tinubu of not doing sufficient to ensure safety.
Armed teams have been finishing up violent assaults in lots of distant communities, typically benefiting from the insufficient safety presence in these areas.
Whereas condemning the kidnapping in a press release issued by his workplace on Sunday, Tinubu stated his authorities is “decided to make sure that instructional establishments stay sanctuaries of data, development, and alternative, and completely free from the menacing acts of terrorists.”