Nigerian terrorist organisation abducted more than 300 students, Boko Haram’s involvement suspected

Abuja: – More than 300 students were abducted in an attack on a school, by a terrorist organisation, in the Katsina province of Nigeria. This incident took place on Friday night, and it is being claimed that there was an encounter between the Nigerian military and the terrorists. Since Katsina is the province of Nigerian President Muhammed Buhari, the abduction incident has created a huge sensation. This is the third instance of the abduction of school children in the last six years, and the number of abducted students in the previous incidences is nearly 400.

Terrorists launched a fierce attack on the Government Science Secondary School in the Kankara region of the Katsina province. The terrorists who came in two groups on motorcycles and in cars opened fire with AK-47 rifles on the security personnel and soldiers deployed there. Local sources informed that while one group engaged the security personnel in the encounter, the other group entered the school and abducted the students. It is also revealed that there were nearly 800 students in the school when the attack started.

Some of the students fled to the jungle near the school and other areas to save their lives. The fleeing students are said to have returned to the school on Saturday morning. Currently, nearly 333 students are missing, and concerns are being expressed that all of them have been abducted. But the military and the security agency in the Katsina province have launched a search operation and said that they have succeeded in tracking the terrorist group. All the schools in the Katsina province have been ordered shut as a precautionary measure.

President Muhammed Buhari has taken serious cognisance of the matter and has denounced the terrorist act in strong words. But parents of the students and locals have expressed displeasure regarding the government. The locals fired a salvo of criticism, ‘The people in the Katsina province are living in the shadows of violence and terror. No presence of the government is felt here.’ This new incident of abduction also raises a question on the security systems in Nigeria.

Only last month, the terrorist organisation Boko Haram killed more than 100 farmers in the Borno province. It was being claimed to be the biggest and the cruellest terror attack during this year. Boko Haram, a terrorist organisation, affiliated to Al-Qaeda, is considered to be the most dangerous terrorist organisation in Africa. The organisation, which was formed in the last decade, has spread its wings to Chad and Niger, along with Nigeria.

The abduction in Katsina is the third large abduction incident in the last six years. In April 2014, Boko Haram had abducted 276 girl students from Chibok in the Borno province. Intense reactions had emanated, regarding the incident, on the international level. A campaign, named ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ also had been started on social media. After that, in 2018, once again, 110 girl students had been abducted from the Dapchi area. The government of Nigeria failed to rescue any of these girls, and the new incident has intensified the anger against the incompetence of the government further.