Armed men seized 15 children from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, just 48 hours after nearly 300 students were taken hostage in the same region. The incident is the latest in a series of school abductions that have plagued Nigeria’s northern region, with at least 1,400 people abducted since 2014.
The gunmen invaded a village in Sokoto state and took the children from their hostel as they slept, also abducting one woman from the village. Security forces were deployed to search for the kidnapped students, but the rescue operation was hampered by the inaccessible roads in the area.
This marks the third mass kidnapping in northern Nigeria since late last week, with kidnappings for ransom becoming a lucrative business for armed gangs operating in the region. While no group has claimed responsibility for the abductions, Islamic extremists are suspected in some cases, while locals blame others on herders in conflict with their host communities.
Nigeria’s Vice President met with authorities and parents of the abducted students in Kaduna state, reassuring them of efforts to find and rescue the children. The government continues to face pressure to address the growing security crisis in the region and put an end to the wave of abductions.
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