Hundreds of students were kidnapped by armed men in central Nigeria after an attack on their boarding school, the latest in a growing wave of kidnappings and mass attacks that have plagued the country.
Heavily armed armed men dressed in military uniforms invaded the Government Science College (GSC), made up only of boys, in the city of Kagara, state of Niger, on Tuesday night, killing at least one student and kidnapping hundreds of students. Some teachers were also abducted and taken to the nearby forest.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by suspected armed groups, known as “bandits”, who have terrorized northwest and central Nigeria in recent years. The groups launched looting attacks from forest havens that extend across northwestern Nigeria to neighboring Niger, terrorizing vulnerable and helpless rural communities for lack of security.
Murders, sexual violence and mass kidnappings for ransom have increased dramatically, including in schools.
“Bandits entered GSC Kagara last night and kidnapped hundreds of students and their teachers,” a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Army and Air Force patrols are scanning the region and a count was in progress at the school, which has approximately 1,000 students, to determine how many are missing.
Government officials in Niger said they would give details soon after collecting information about the kidnappings. The state governor on Wednesday ordered all boarding schools closed in areas at risk of bandit attacks.
A spokesman for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who is increasingly defamed for heightening the insecurity that has recently forced him to replace all chiefs of the armed forces, said: “Our prayers are with the families of the victims of this attack. After these reports, the president instructed the armed forces and the police to guarantee the immediate and safe return of all captives ”.
The attack in Niger follows a similar attack in December, when some 300 students were kidnapped in Katsina, northwestern Nigeria, raising outrage over the growing insecurity in recent years. The boys were later released, while the government denied widespread reports that the armed men, who were associated with Boko Haram, received a ransom.
The frequency and ease with which armed groups carry out attacks in northwest Nigeria has caused growing dismay. Despite several air strikes and army operations, the groups remain a potent threat in many parts of northern Nigeria. Some local governments have signed controversial and obscure “peace agreements” with groups, some admitting to having paid or offered assistance to insurgents. However, the attacks remained common.
Earlier this month, bandits hijacked more than 20 passengers on a bus in the city of Zungeru, 30 miles from where the students were taken on Tuesday. Local reports said a video released by the armed men showed anguished victims surrounded by attackers with a rocket launcher and rifles begging the government to pay a ransom of 500 million naira (£ 947,000).
In recent years, attacks have also increased on Nigeria’s porous border with Niger, with refugees fleeing more and more to the country.
The lack of rural security and the protection offered by a vast, mineral-rich forest provided the conditions for armed groups to thrive.
Although “banditry” encompasses a range of criminal activities coupled with various non-ethnic and ethnic factors, many of the recent large-scale armed attacks are suspected of having been carried out by Fulani attackers. According to Amnesty International, 1,126 people were killed by bandits between January and June last year.
The attack in Katsina in December appeared to be the worst attack recorded by suspected bandits, according to Audu Bulama Bukarti, an extremism expert and analyst at the Tony Blair Institute. “It is another important escalating point in the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the northwest,” he said.
The threat of banditry has been complicated by the increase in associations with jihadists, who still have an 11-year rebellion in the northeast of the country. Many fear that jihadists are increasingly active in northern and central Nigeria, wooing associations with thriving armed groups.
In December, Boko Haram took responsibility for the kidnappings in Kankara. While the attack was carried out by bandits, the association between the two armed groups caused widespread alarm.
In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their school dormitory in Chibok, in northeastern Borno state. About 100 of the girls are still missing. The group also carried out kidnappings of other school children, as well as thousands of people across northeastern Nigeria.