OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
4:25 PM – Monday, March 25, 2024
Almost 300 abducted Nigerian school children have been freed, over two weeks after the adolescents were taken from their school in the northwestern state of Kaduna.
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On Sunday, the governor’s administration of Kaduna state declared that days before the ransom payment deadline, approximately 287 students who had been kidnapped by gunmen from a school this month had been released without harm.
It is also still unclear why the children were freed or if the ransom had been paid.
This was the first mass kidnapping in the nation since 2021, when over 150 students were abducted from a secondary school in the same region.
The first kidnappings from schools in Nigeria were carried out by the terrorist group Boko Haram, which is the most well-known incident that had transpired 10 years ago when 276 students were abducted from a girls’ school in Chibok, northern Borno state.
The country’s northwest and central regions have seen a concentration of kidnappings in recent years. In these areas, dozens of armed groups frequently target travelers and residents for ransom payments.
Governor of Kaduna State Uba Sani did not provide further details regarding the release of the 287 school children. However, it was reported that at least 100 of the abductees were 12-years-old or younger, and that they were kidnapped from their school in the isolated town of Kuriga on March 7th.
Sani thanked Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in a statement for “particularly ensuring that the abducted school children are released unharmed.”
Tinubu made a pledge to free the children “without paying a dime” as ransom. However, kidnappings are frequently paid for with ransom, frequently by family members, and Nigerian officials almost never historically acknowledge the ransom payments.
The majority of the bandit organizations responsible for mass killings and kidnappings in the conflict-battered northern area are believed to be former herders at odds with settled towns. Additionally, no group has taken official credit for the kidnapping in Kaduna.
The Associated Press was informed by at least two insiders with in-depth knowledge of the security situation in northwest Nigeria that the identity of the kidnappers is known, however, they claimed that it is not being reported for reasons unbeknownst to them.
The bandits are allegedly hiding in the vast and uncontrolled forests of the region, according to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a cleric who has negotiated with the bandits, and Murtala Ahmed Rufa’i, a professor of peace and conflict studies at Usmanu Danfodiyo University.
In Nigeria, where abductions occur often, arrests are typically infrequent since victims are usually freed only after relatives pay ransoms or make arrangements with government and security authorities.
The governor of Kaduna expressed gratitude to Nigerian authorities and security forces for the students’ release.
“I spent sleepless nights with the National Security Adviser, Mal. Nuhu Ribadu … fine-tuning strategies and coordinating the operations of the security agencies, which eventually resulted in this successful outcome,” the Kaduna governor said.
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