Nigerian troops sent to free 280 schoolchildren after second kidnapping in a week

NIGERIA has sent troops to free nearly 300 schoolchildren who were taken from their school, 10 years after the Chibok kidnappings.

Attackers riding motorbikes fired in the air and rounded up students in the country’s second attack of its kind in a week. Africa’s most populous country is battling a tide of mass abductions driven by lucrative kidnappings that often target schools.

Staff said that 187 pupils had been snatched from the main Kuriga school on Thursday morning, along with another 100 from the school’s primary classes.

At least one person was shot dead during the attack in Kaduna state and the scale of the abduction meant almost no local family was untouched.

Musa Mohammed, a local resident, told AFP: “Early in the morning ... we heard gunshots from bandits, before we knew it they had gathered up the children.” He added: “We are pleading to the government, all of us are pleading, they should please help us with security.”

Fatima Usman, whose two children were taken, told Reuters: “We don’t know what to do, we are all waiting to see what God can do. They are my only children I have on Earth.” Another resident, who declined to be named, told local media: “Every household was affected. Besides, we are all related.

“We are also afraid of renewed attacks because the bandits might be hiding somewhere to wait for security operatives who may come on a rescue mission.”

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Nigerian president, said that he would send troops to rescue the children.

He said: “I am confident that the victims will be rescued. Nothing else is acceptable to me and the waiting family members of these abducted citizens. Justice will be decisively administered.”

Thursday’s abduction came only days after as many as 200 women and children were feared kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram while they were collecting firewood in north-east Nigeria. The group triggered international outcry a decade ago by kidnapping more than 250 schoolgirls from Chibok in north-east Nigeria.

Parts of Nigeria have been plagued by banditry and kidnaps in recent years, making security one of the main issues in last year’s presidential election.

Shehu Sani, a former senator, said: “The kidnapping of schoolchildren by terrorists in northern Nigeria is a lucrative business. They use it to blackmail the government for huge payments of ransom.

“They know that it will evoke public sympathy for the pupils and pressure will be mounted on the government to bow to their demands. Many parents in rural areas are now afraid of allowing their children to go to school. This is a serious problem for basic education in northern Nigeria.”