Image:The New York Times
Since December of 2020 close to 1,000 students have been kidnapped by gangs in Northwest and central of Nigeria. On the 30th of May 2021 during a period of mass abductions which targeted colleges and schools, in Niger State, a group of heavily equipped criminals forcefully took into captivity a 136 pupils from the seminary in Tegina.
Abubakar Alhassan, who is the Seminary head said, “The pupils have all been released. We are now conveying them home.” He continued to say “I can’t give you an exact number now. We will have to screen them when we get home. But none of the pupils is in captivity.” A parent of 2 pupils who were a part of the kidnapped students also confirmed the release of the rest of the students.
In June, 15 students were able to sneak out and escape. Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari has put in place military force and air strikes on the camps of these criminals, however the attacks have not stopped. Release deals with the bandits have been tried out by a few local governors but have not succeeded.