Kaduna State’s Governor Uba Sani has visited Kuriga where gunmen kidnapped some 227 school pupils on Thursday from the LEA Primary School in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
They shot one pupil.
The Governor promised to get the students released.
Police in Kaduna state did not respond to requests for comment on the abductions, which happened shortly after morning assembly at the Local Government Education Authority School in the town of Kuriga.
“The number of the kidnapped from the secondary section based on the statistics we took together with the parents is 187 while that of the primary section is 40 for now,” said Sani Abdullahi, a home economics teacher.
Local Councillor for Kuriga Idris Maiallura said he had been to the school and said the gunmen initially took 100 primary schools pupils but later freed them while others escaped.
Amnesty International called on Nigerian authorities to safely rescue the students and hold perpetrators to account.
“We don’t know what to do, we are all waiting to see what God can do. They are my only children I have on Earth,” Fatima Usman, whose two children were among those abducted, told Reuters by telephone.
Another parent, Hassan Abdullahi, said local vigilantes had tried to repel the gunmen but had been overpowered.
“Seventeen of the students abducted are my children. I feel very sad that the government has neglected us completely in this area,” Abdullahi said.
The last major reported abduction involving school children in Kaduna was in July 2021 when gunmen took more than 150 students in a raid.
The students were re-united months later with their families after they paid ransoms.
The latest abduction came barely twenty-four hours after Boko Haram insurgents kdnapped 300 women in Borno State and set ablaze their Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camp.
According to a Kaduna citizen, the incident happened at about 8.30 am as the pupils were about to conclude the morning assembly.
“The bandits kidnapped over 200, both primary school pupils and secondary students. The secondary school students were moved from a location outside the community to the primary school due to the fear of bandits’ attack.
“They also went away with a teacher, named Isa. They shot one student, identified simply as Rabilu, who was rushed to Birnin Gwari hospital. He survived.
“They (bandits) gathered all the children and forced them to move towards the North Eastern part of the community, on foot.
“The entire community is in deep confusion. Every household was affected. Besides, we are all related We are also afraid of renewed attacks because the bandits might be hiding somewhere to wait for security operatives who may come on rescue mission.”
Mansir Hassan, spokesperson of Kaduna State police command, confirmed the incident but did not give detail.
”I’m attending a security meeting but the police tactical team has been deployed to go after the criminals by combing the bushes to rescue the victims,” he said.
