The abduction of over 130 children from a school in Nigeria’s northwestern Kaduna state over two weeks ago ended on Sunday as they were rescued, according to statements from military and government officials of the West African nation.
Initially, school authorities had reported that 287 students were taken when gunmen on motorcycles raided the remote Kuriga school on March 7. However, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna later clarified that only 137 children were actually abducted during the attack.
“All of them have safely returned home,” Governor Sani announced in a broadcast on Channels Television based in Lagos. Unfortunately, attempts to reach villagers or school authorities in Kuriga town for confirmation were unsuccessful due to the lack of cellphone service in the area.
Discrepancies in reported numbers are not uncommon amidst Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis, attributed to factors such as inadequate recordkeeping or some hostages managing to escape shortly after being taken.
Governor Sani emphasized, “As the leader, I shouldn’t concern myself with figures. What matters most is the safe return of the children.”
Since 2014, when Boko Haram militants abducted hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok village in Borno state, over 1,400 students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools. The recent incidents have been concentrated in the northwestern and central regions, where various armed groups often target villagers and travelers for ransom.
The rescued 137 children were found in Zamfara state, more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) away from their school, as confirmed by Nigerian military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Edward Buba.
Photographs released by the Nigerian military depicted the children, visibly fatigued and covered in dust, still adorned in their blue-white-and-brown school uniforms while being transported after their release. Leaders of Kuriga town, alongside other government officials, eagerly awaited their arrival at the Kaduna State Government House, an event that was postponed until Monday.
Governor Sani assured that the children were in “high spirits” and were receiving both psychological support and medical attention.
Additionally, 17 other schoolchildren from northern Sokoto state were also rescued, as announced by the Sokoto state government on Saturday.
In response to mounting pressure to curb the spate of kidnappings in northern Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu pledged that his administration is “implementing detailed strategies to ensure that our schools remain safe havens of learning, rather than dens for indiscriminate abductions.”
Although President Tinubu vowed to secure the children’s release without paying ransoms, it’s a common practice for families to arrange payments in kidnapping cases. However, government officials rarely admit to such payments.
No specific group has claimed responsibility for the Kaduna abduction, which local sources attribute to bandit groups known for mass killings and ransom-driven kidnappings in the conflict-ridden northern region.
According to sources knowledgeable about the security situation in Nigeria’s northwest, including Murtala Ahmed Rufa’i, a professor of peace and conflict studies at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, and Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a cleric who has negotiated with the bandits, the perpetrators are believed to be hiding in the region’s vast and lawless forests.
Arrests in Nigeria’s mass kidnapping cases are infrequent, with victims typically released following ransom payments or through negotiations involving the release of detained gang members by government and security authorities.
