1 in 25 kidnapped in Nigeria found safe as search continues for missing girls

A school that was held by 24 others from the northern and western parts of northern Nigeria has escaped and is safe, as hunters have told the security forces in search of missing students in the forests close to the school.

The girls were abducted before dawn on Monday, when thugs attacked a dormitory in the state all-girls school in Kebbi State’s Maga Town.

The local police said that the suspected gunmen climbed the fence to enter the school premises and exchanged gunfire with the police before taking the girls and killing the staff.

No group wanted to take responsibility for taking the girls, but analysts and analysis centers said that the gangs often target schools, tourists and local people far away from the kidnapping for ransom. The authorities say that the criminals, especially the former gangs, have taken up arms against the farming communities after some strange problems.

Many school kidnappings are very common in northern Nigeria, and the kebbi school is close to hot conflicts, including Zamfara and Sokoto States, where few groups are known.

The escaped student returned home late Monday, hours after the abduction, according to school principal Musa Rabi Magaji. One student managed to escape the gunmen minutes after the attack and was not taken hostage, the principal told the AP.

“They are safe and sound,” Magaji said.

A video verified by the AP shows the two schoolgirls, who appear to be in their early years, wearing hijabs and surrounded by family and other residents. Seniors in Nigeria tend to be between 12 and 17.

Security forces and hunters, meanwhile, have stepped up efforts to find and rescue others, said local officials. Security forces have flooded the nearby forests where gangs often hide at the entrance to the main roads leading to the school.

Kebbi Gov. Nasir Idris visited the school on Monday and assured the people of the efforts to save the girls, and the Nigerian chief of staff of the military met with the military and the pursuit of intelligence on the day of the attack,” according to a military statement.

“We have to get these kids for ourselves. Act firmly and gracefully in every sense. Success is not an option,” said the war chief.

Families recount the attacks in advance

On Tuesday morning, the dorm and the class block – walking distance – were deserted. In Maga, families awaiting news of their children’s freedom expressed anger and frustration.

Resident Abdulkarim Abdullahi, whose daughter and grandson – aged 13 and 10 respectively – belonged to the abducted children, said he heard noises in his house.

“I was at home when I suddenly heard gunshots at the school. We were told that the attackers entered the school on many motorcycles,” Abdullahi said.

Amina Hassan, the wife of Deputy Elibi – Principal Hassan Yakuwu Makuku, said the assailants entered their house, located in the school premises, and shot her husband.

He was also the school’s chief security officer.

“Three of them came in and asked my husband, ‘Are you a friend of Hassan?’ And he answered, ‘Yes, I am.’ They told him we are here to kill you,” he told the AP.

Capturing an attention grabbing strategy

At least 1,500 students were taken from the district because of the slogans of Bo Haram Jaham jihadi, 276 Chibok Schoolgirls were arrested more than a decade ago.

But bandits also operate in the region, and analysts say gangs often target schools to get attention.

Analysts and residents blame the lack of security in the failure to prosecute known attackers, and a widespread deception that limits the supply of weapons to the security forces while ensuring the delivery of gangs.

“Let’s say people are kidnapped in markets – it’s not far-fetched, (or) if people are kidnapped on the street – it’s not far-fetched,” said Oluwole Ojewale, a security analyst at the Security Institute.

“That’s what it’s all about [it is] strategic abduction, like school children. ”