Several Armed men breached a college in the early hours of Friday morning, executed another Nigerian kidnapping, abducted an undetermined number of students, and opened fire in the educational institution in the northwest portion of Nigeria.
Armed Men Abduct Students
According to CNN, an unknown number of students were kidnapped from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando in the Nigerian state of Kaduna. The latest Nigerian kidnapping marks the third mass kidnapping from an academic institution in the northern portion of Nigeria as police have stated that they are working in rescuing the students.
Based on the Kaduna police spokesman, Mohammed Jalige stated that the police together with the military are cooperating and are on top of the situation. He also added that they are trying to liaise with the school management to know the exact number of students that were kidnapped and then see the possibility of rescuing them safely and arresting the criminals.
In addition, a student at the college shared to a news outlet what he had experienced during the incident. Jamilu Abdullahi, shared that he heard attackers shooting at around 3 am, which is also the arrival time of the perpetrators.
The student also added that the armed men made a beeline for the female hostel despite that the male dormitory is closer to the fence where they came in. Abdullahi mentioned that they saw them running away and the bandits came and they were firing their guns and took away the girls.
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Meanwhile, the police have not yet confirmed the number of students that were abducted but Abdullahi shared that the number of girls who were living in the breached hostel was between 80 to 100 female students. The abduction is the latest in a string of similar kidnapping cases, as earlier this month, not less than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped from the northwest portion of Nigeria, which is a school in Zamfara State, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Moreover, at least 42 individuals were abducted last month from a state-run school in Kagara, which is a town in Nigeria. Later on, they were also released by the suspects.
In December, more than 300 schoolboys were also taken but later on, they were also freed by the suspects. In most parts of Nigerian kidnapping for ransom is rife.
The problem has also slowly become a major security challenge for the Nigerian government. State governors even had regularly paid ransoms in order to secure the safety of the victims from the kidnappers but they rarely admit to doing so.
Moreover, the president of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari recently shared with the state governors that they need to start reviewing their policy in terms of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles. The Nigerian President also mentioned that the policy could backfire with potentially disastrous consequences, NBC News reported.
Aside from reviewing the said policies, Buhari emphasized also to the governors and urged them to work hard in securing the schools in their area of responsibility.
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