Officials in Nigeria have said that more than 130 schoolchildren kidnapped by gunmen in the northwestern region earlier this month were released unharmed.
The mass abduction in Kuriga, Kaduna state was one of the biggest attacks on a school in years and sparked a national outcry over insecurity. The army said the hostages were freed during a rescue operation but did not provide details.
Spokesperson, Major General Edward Buba (pic), who shared photos of children wearing dust-covered uniforms in buses, said: "The rescued hostages totalling 137 comprise of 76 females and 61 males.”
They were rescued in Zamfara state and would be conveyed and handed over to the Kaduna state government for further action." Teachers and residents previously said around 280 pupils between the ages of eight and 15 were kidnapped when armed criminals, known in Nigeria as bandits, stormed the school on motorbikes - discrepancies between the number of people kidnapped and released are common in Nigeria due to unclear early reports and the return of those who go missing while fleeing attacks.
Responding, Buba stated that all the captives had been rescued – insisting that no troops had been wounded but citing that the rescue operation was “ongoing”. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu welcomed the news, having faced growing pressure after promising to tackle the country's many security challenges since he went into power.
"The president assures Nigerians that his administration is deploying detailed strategies to ensure that our schools remain safe sanctuaries of learning, not lairs for wanton abductions," his spokesperson said.
Gangs are said to routinely attack communities, loot villages and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom in the northwest and north-central regions, targeting schools and colleges in the past, with victims often freed following negotiations with the authorities. A 2022 law banned handing over money to kidnappers.
The mass kidnapping in Kaduna state and another in Borno state came almost 10 years after Boko Haram militants triggered a huge international outcry in 2014 by abducting more than 250 schoolgirls from Chibok in the northeast.
