Gunmen kidnap 15 children from another school in northern Nigeria

Armed men broke into a boarding school in northwest Nigeria and abducted 15 sleeping children early Saturday, police told The Associated Press, adding that nearly 300 students were abducted in conflict-affected areas. Hostages, about 48 hours later.

School kidnappings are common in northern Nigeria. In particular, the kidnapping of more than 200 female students by Islamic extremists in Chibok Village, Borno State in 2014 shocked the world. Since then, armed gangs have targeted schools for kidnapping and ransom, resulting in the abduction of at least 1,400 people.

Police said the gunmen in the latest attack invaded Gidan Bakuso village in the Gada Assembly District of Sokoto State at around 1 a.m. local time. Sokoto police spokesman Ahmad Rufa’i told The Associated Press that they went to the Islamic school and removed the children from their dormitories before security forces arrived.

A woman was also abducted from the village, El-Rufai said, adding that police deployed a tactical team to search for the students.

However, the area is impassable, posing challenges to rescue operations, he said.

“This is a remote village and vehicles cannot go there; they (police squad) had to use motorcycles to reach the village,” he said.

Saturday’s attack was the third mass kidnapping in northern Nigeria since last weekend, when more than 200 people, mostly women and children, were abducted by suspected extremists in Borno state. On Thursday, 287 students were also taken hostage at a public primary and secondary school in Kaduna State.

The attacks have once again highlighted the security crisis plaguing Africa’s most populous nation. Kidnapping for ransom has become lucrative in Nigeria’s northern region, where dozens of armed gangs operate.

No group has claimed responsibility for any of the kidnappings. While Islamic extremists waging an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria are suspected of carrying out kidnappings in Borno state, locals blame the school abductions on herdsmen who clashed with local communities before taking up arms.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Vice President Kasim Shettima met authorities and parents of some of the kidnapped students in Kaduna state on Saturday and assured them that security forces would work to find and rescue the children.