150 students abducted in Nigeria for ransom; Increase attacks on students

Abuja – A minimum of 150 students were abducted in an attack launched by armed attackers, on a school, in the Niger province of Nigeria. One person was killed in the firing by the attackers, and one other was injured. It is claimed that the students were abducted to demand a ransom from the parents and the administration. Since last December, there has been a marked increase in the attacks on schools and colleges in Nigeria.

On Sunday, attackers armed with guns launched an attack on the Salihu Tanko School in the Tegina city of the Niger province, the biggest and most prosperous province in Nigeria. The attackers started indiscriminate firing in the school building and the surrounding area. A local was killed in the firing. Then, taking advantage of the panic that struck the neighbourhood, the attackers decamped, loading 150 children in trucks.

At the time of the attack, there were a minimum of 300 students in school. But all the students were not abducted. The local website informed that the attackers took only senior and healthy children. It is also being claimed that the number of kidnapped students can even be 200. It is said that the abductors released 11 weak students after some time. There is no trace of where the abductors could have taken the students.

The local security agencies are expressing a possibility that the students were abducted for ransom. There have been recent incidents of attackers abducting students from schools and colleges, in various parts of Nigeria, for ransom. In April, 14 students had been kidnapped from the Greenfield University in the Kaduna province. These students were released only four days ago. More than 800 students have been abducted in the various incidents reported from different parts of Nigeria since December.

It has been exposed that terrorist organisations like Boko Haram are also involved in these abductions along with the local criminal gangs. Boko Haram had abducted 344 students in the Katsina province in December. Before this, in 2014, the same terrorist organisation had abducted 276 girl students from Chibok city. Concerns are being expressed from around the globe over these attacks on students in Nigeria.

An accusation is being made that at certain places, terrorists are targeting Christian schools and colleges. A week ago, a Christian student and his parent had been killed in the Plateau province. It had been exposed that the Fulani gang was behind these attacks.