Gunmen Abduct At Least 100 Students, Teachers From School

Terrorists abducted at least 100 people, including students and teachers, in an attack on a public primary school on Thursday, a report said.

The incident occurred around 8 a.m. on the school premises following the morning assembly, residents said, according to Premium Times. The school is located in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

A resident stated that around 100 students and several teachers were taken, but there has been no official confirmation from the state regarding the incident, the report said. This incident follows last month's killing of bandit kingpin Isyaku Boderi who was accused of kidnapping many high-profile people in the northern part of the country.

It is not clear if this incident is related to Boderi's killing.

While there are reports of at least 100 people being abducted, Senator Shehu Sani posted on social media that more than 200 students were kidnapped.

"It's tragic to hear that 232 students have just been kidnapped in Kuriga village, Chikun Lg in Kaduna State," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "Its the same village where a school principal, Idris Sufyan was killed and his wife kidnapped over a month ago. However, I'm optimistic their freedom will be secured," he wrote.

The Nigerian Army earlier said that Boderi had been killed alongside some of his fellow bandits in Kaduna. Nigeria army's spokesperson Major General Onyema Nwachukwu said at the time that Boderi was behind the kidnappings of the Yauri school girls, attacking Greenfield University and the Nigerian Defense Academy in Kaduna.

This is not the first time gunmen have kidnapped students in Nigeria. Last year, gunmen entered three hostels at the Federal University Gusau in Zamfara State and abducted 30 students, 24 of whom were reportedly female.

Nigeria has been witnessing a rise in kidnappings, with 3,620 individuals abducted from July 2022 to June 2023. In addition to kidnappings, gunmen have also carried out attacks against communities and security officials in the country.

Unidentified gunmen last year killed at least eight security operatives in the Umualumaku community, Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria's south-east.