By Martin Cole-
Gunmen in northwest Nigeria have again kidnapped about 30 students from a forestry college near a military academy, in the fourth mass school abduction since December, authorities said.
The latest abduction took place around 11:30pm on Thursday at the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, in the Igabi local government area of Kaduna state, police said.
Despite what was thought to have been a peace deal established in 2019 between the Nigerian government and the bandits, kidnapping for ransom continues.
It has only been a few weeks since 279 schoolgirls were freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state. In a separate incident 27 teenage boys were released after being kidnapped from their school in the north-central state of Niger, along with three staff and 12 family members. One student was shot dead in that attack.
Last December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped from a school in Kankara, in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina, while the president was visiting the region. Incidences of kidnapping for ransom has become a growing problem in Nigeria, especially the Northern parts were lawlessness is rampant..
The college where the abduction occurred sits on the outskirts of Kaduna city, capital of Kaduna state, in a region occupied by armed gangs, who often travel on motorcycles.
A statement from the state’s commissioner for International Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said ” about 30 people are yet to be accounted for . Several staff of the school were also kidnapped, he added.
The news is a reminder of the continuous security risks in Northern Nigeria, where kidnappings are now a common occurrence.
At least $11m was paid to kidnappers between January 2016 and March 2020, according to SB Morgen, a Lagos-based geopolitical research consultancy.
In late February, Buhari urged state governments to “review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously”.
“The armed men have always targeted secondary schools where younger students attended. This is a new development from their usual mode of operation.”
Relatives of students gathered at the gates of the college, which was surrounded by about 20 army trucks.
Heavily armed criminal gangs in northwestern and central Nigeria have stepped up attacks in recent years, kidnapping for ransom, raping and pillaging.
Within the last few weeks, 279 schoolgirls were freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, and 27 teenage boys were released after being kidnapped from their school in the north-central state of Niger, along with three staff and 12 family members. One student was shot dead in that attack.
Last December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped from a school in Kankara, in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina, while the president was visiting the region.
The boys were later released but the incident triggered outrage and memories of the kidnappings of at least 276 schoolgirls by the Boko Haram armed group in Chibok in 2014 that shocked the world. Many of those girls are still missing.
Kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria is a cancer killing the nation’s security.