Nigerian village celebrates the return of kidnapped students
Kuriga, Nigeria Reuters The whole village of Kuriga ran towards the convoy of buses shouting “Our children are back!” and “Alhamdulillah,” meaning “Thank you, God”, to welcome home more than 100 students and staff who were abducted this month in Nigeria’s north-west. The army announced on Sunday it had rescued 137 hostages – 76 female […]
Gunmen in Nigeria kidnap about 100 in weekend attacks
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped around 100 people, including women and children, in two weekend attacks in Kaduna state, residents and police said on Monday. Kidnappings by criminal gangs demanding ransoms have become an almost daily occurrence in Nigeria, especially in the north, with authorities seemingly powerless to stop them. Kaduna police spokesperson […]
Nigeria: Kidnaps break up families, keep children out of school
GARBA MOHAMMAD, ABRAHAM ACHIRGA and GIULIA PARAVICINI, of Reuters, report…
Nigerian kidnappers demand $US620,000 for release of school hostages, local authorities say
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen who kidnapped 286 students and staff from a school in northern Nigeria last week have demanded a total of one billion naira ($US620,432) for their release, a spokesman for the families of the hostages and a local councillor told Reuters. The school children, some older students and members of the school […]
Nigerian army hunts for kidnapped students, parents seek answers
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Nigerian soldiers were on Monday hunting for armed kidnappers who seized nearly 300 school pupils in Kaduna state last week, a security source said, as distraught parents sought answers on when they would be reunited with their children. The source said the army’s Kaduna-based One Division was leading the operation and “will […]
“I forced her to go to school”, Nigerian mother cries after mass school abduction
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Seven-year-old Safiya Kuriga complained she was feeling feverish but her mother still made her attend class on Thursday. Within two hours, gunmen entered her school and kidnapped Safiya and some 300 other students in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state. “I forced her to go to school that morning despite her complaining to me […]
Gunmen kidnap 227 pupils from school in Nigeria
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped more than 200 school pupils in the northern town of Kuriga on Thursday, a teacher, local councillor and parents of the missing children said, in the biggest mass abduction from a school since 2021. Police in Kaduna state did not respond to requests for comment on the abductions, […]
Nigeria’s President orders investigation after drone strike kills 85
Abuja, NigeriaReuters Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday ordered a thorough investigation into a weekend military drone attack that killed at least 85 people, including women and children, in northern Kaduna. Nigerian army chief Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja visited Tundun Biri village and apologised for the air strike. At a Kaduna hospital where the injured […]
Gunmen in Nigeria kidnap 40 worshippers from church
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen abducted 40 people from a church in a remote village in northern Nigeria, a local Christian group said on Monday, in the latest attack against worshippers. Armed gangs, known locally as bandits, have been abducting people from villages, schools and highways mostly in the northwest of the country, where government security […]
Gunmen in Nigeria seize eight students in latest kidnapping
Bauchi, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state kidnapped eight secondary school students coming from school along with an unknown number of others, authorities said on Tuesday, the latest in a wave of such abductions. Armed gangs operating mostly in remote parts of north-west Nigeria have carried out violent attacks against villagers, schools and […]