Hundreds of kidnapped Nigerian school students released

The more than 250 school students seized by
gunmen in a mass kidnapping in northwestern Nigeria earlier this month have
been released, the local governor said on Sunday.

The kidnapping in Kuriga, Kaduna state on March 7 was one of the biggest such
attacks in years and prompted a national outcry over insecurity.

“The abducted Kuriga school children are released unharmed,” Kaduna state
governor Uba Sani said in a statement that did not specify how they were
freed.

“This is indeed a day of joy,” he said, thanking the army, President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, the national security adviser, and “all Nigerians who prayed
fervently for the safe return of the school children”.

Gangs of criminals known locally as bandits have been blamed for the
abductions. They routinely target communities, loot villages and carry out
mass kidnappings for ransom in northwest and north-central Nigeria.

Relatives had said the kidnappers demanded a large payment for the return of
the students, but President Tinubu said he had ordered security forces not to
pay up.

Kidnap victims in Nigeria are often freed following negotiations with the
authorities, though a 2022 law banned handing over money to kidnappers and
officials deny ransom payments are made. (BSS/AFP)