Dozens of schoolchildren, teachers and their family members have been liberated after being abducted ten days ago by armed men in Central Nigeria, in one of the increasing number of mass kidnappings and attacks that have plagued the country.
Their release comes a day after 317 schoolgirls were abducted on Friday by gunmen in Zamfara, northwestern Nigeria, causing great uproar and closing some schools in northern Nigeria.
Kidnappings due to ransoms and deadly attacks by armed groups known locally as bandits have skyrocketed in northern and central Nigeria in recent years, with massive kidnappings endemic, and schools increasingly targeted.
Last week, 27 students, three staff members and 12 members of their families were abducted by heavily armed men dressed in military uniforms. The attackers raided the Government Science College (GSC) in Kagara Town, Niger, killing at least one student.
“The abducted students, staff and relatives of Government Science College Kagara have regained their freedom and have been received by the Nigerian state government,” Niger Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said in a tweet.
The government did not provide details on how the children were released, but it is common for ransoms to be paid to release abducted victims.
The families reunited with their children and family members, while hundreds of families in Zamfara remain desperate over the latest kidnapping of schoolgirls.
The president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, who has come under prolonged criticism of the insecurity in northern Nigeria, has condemned the abductions.
“Our main goal is to get all school hostages safe, alive and unharmed,” Buhari said. ‘State governments need to review their policies to reward bandits with money and vehicles.
“States and local governments must also play their part by being proactive in improving safety in and around schools,” he added, criticizing local government officials.
The recent attacks have raised concerns about increasing violence by bandits and alliances with jihadist groups that are still leading an 11-year uprising in northeastern Nigeria.
Several groups of heavily armed bandits launched vicious attacks from forests across northwestern Nigeria into neighboring Niger, terrorizing the vulnerable rural communities who were left helpless for lack of security.
Murders, sexual violence and mass kidnappings due to ransoms have increased sharply, including in schools. The attacks have raised fears for the welfare of students, and that low levels of school enrollment in the region could continue to suffer. According to local reports, there was only one security guard at the school in Zamfara when gunmen attacked on Friday.
The increase in kidnappings is partly fueled by significant government payments in exchange for the children, officials told Reuters. The Nigerian government regularly denies such payments.
Despite several airstrikes and army operations, the bandit groups continued to attack relentlessly and with ease. Several hundred people have died in the past year. In some areas the militants move freely and are known to local residents and officials.
Many of the attackers are ethnic Fulanis and develop partly from a land conflict between largely Fulani shepherds and farmers of different ethnicities in Nigeria.
Other groups consist of a variety of ethnic groups. The challenge of criminal elements attacking from forest regions has exploded in recent years into a devastating security crisis.
In December, bandits abducted 344 schoolboys from the city of Kankara in northwestern Katsina. They were released after six days, but the government denied that a ransom had been paid.
The armed men were linked to Boko Haram, which increased fears of links between the armed groups.