Maiduguri: In a bold and swift operation, the Nigerian military announced the successful rescue of students and staff who fell victim to abduction by armed assailants from a school located in northern Nigeria earlier this month. This daring rescue occurred just days before the looming deadline set by the kidnappers, who demanded a ransom of $690,000.
The abduction, which took place on March 7 in Kuriga, a town situated in the northwestern state of Kaduna, marked a distressing turn of events in a nation already grappling with security challenges. This incident notably stood as the first mass abduction in Africa’s most populous nation since 2021, when over 150 students were similarly taken from a high school in Kaduna.
Major General Edward Buba, a spokesperson for the military, revealed that a total of 137 hostages, comprising 76 females and 61 males, were successfully rescued in the early hours of Sunday in the neighbouring state of Zamfara.
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“In the early hours of 24 March 2024, the military, in collaboration with local authorities and government agencies across the country, executed a coordinated search and rescue operation, culminating in the liberation of the hostages,” stated Buba in a released statement.
Earlier reports from security sources indicated that the students were liberated from captivity in a forest and were currently being escorted to Kaduna’s capital for medical evaluations before being joyously reunited with their families. However, details regarding whether the security forces engaged in a confrontation with the captors during the extraction process remain undisclosed.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna had previously estimated the total number of hostages to be over 200. Nevertheless, officials have yet to provide clarity on the disparity between the reported numbers of hostages.
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The grim reality of abductions within Nigerian schools traces back to the infamous incident perpetrated by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which abducted 276 students from a girls’ school in Chibok, located in northeastern Borno State, a decade ago. Tragically, some of these abducted girls remain in captivity to this day.
While Boko Haram initially pioneered this tactic, it has since been adopted by criminal gangs devoid of ideological affiliations. Last week, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 1 billion naira ($690,000) for the safe release of the abducted children and staff.
Despite the government’s steadfast stance against ransom payments, with the practice being outlawed in 2022, kidnappings orchestrated by criminal elements demanding ransoms persist as a grim and frequent occurrence, particularly in northern Nigeria.
These incidents not only fracture families but also strain communities, compelling them to exhaust their resources and assets to secure the freedom of their loved ones, often resorting to the sale of land, livestock, and essential provisions.
