Barely days after 25 schoolgirls were abducted from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria, armed gunmen have struck again, this time in the centre of the country, according to reports reaching APA on Friday.
Some pupils have been reported abducted when the unidentified gunmen raided the Catholic-run St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger state.
Prior to the raid in which some 100 pupils and some of the staff were seized, the school had been placed under temporary shutdown thanks to growing concerns about insecurity in the state.
“Regrettably, St Mary’s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the state government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,” the Niger State authorities said in a statement.
It is the second such incident involving the kidnapping of students in Nigeria within a week.
On Monday, gunmen believed to be bandits stormed the compound of the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, at around 3am, killing a sentry on guard and left another seriously wounded in an exchange of fire.
The police said the gunmen gained access to the school compound and forcibly took away students, all girls who were sleeping at the main hostel.
The suspected bandits later frog marched the kidnapped into the bush and disappeared into the night.
A police search and rescue operation is currently combing the state’s forest areas where the bandits may be hiding.
Theses abductions re reminiscent of the kidnapping of over 200 girls in a boarding school in Chibok in Borno State in 2014 and attracted inernational campaign for their freedom from Boko Haram captivity.
In recent years such kidnappings are by armed gangs who demand ransoms for the release of their victims.
WN/as/APA