Gunmen kidnap nine students from school in northern Nigeria
May 11, 2024
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At least nine students were abducted by gunmen during a late-night raid on their school in northern Nigeria, authorities said Friday, the third such abduction amid rampant kidnappings targeting schools in the conflict-hit region this year.The assailants invaded the Confluence University of Science and Technology in Kogi state, which neighbors the nation’s capital, Abuja, and took away the students from their classrooms before security forces could arrive, according to Kogi Commissioner for Information Kingsley Femi Fanwo.The state has “activated the security architecture to track the kidnappers and ensure students are rescued and the abductors apprehended,” Fanwo added.The official said local hunters were helping security forces in “combing” the school area, which is surrounded by bushes in the remote Osara town.Nigeria has faced such incidents since the first such incident in 2014 when Islamic extremists abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from the northeastern Chibok village, sparking the global #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.At least 1,400 Nigerian students have since been taken from their schools in similar circumstances, including at least 130 children abducted from their school in Kuriga town in the northern Kaduna state in March. Some are still held captive, including nearly 100 of the Chibok girls.