The assault was the primary mass kidnapping since President Bola Tinubu got here to energy (Representational)
Zamfara, Nigeria:
Gunmen have kidnapped greater than 30 folks, together with at the least 24 feminine college students, in a raid in and round a college in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, residents stated Saturday.
Dozens of gunmen from felony gangs referred to as bandits barged into Sabon Gida village on the sting of a Federal College exterior the state capital Gusau in a predawn assault on Friday breaking into three feminine hostels and taking away the occupants, residents informed AFP.
The assault was the primary mass kidnapping at a university since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu got here to energy, promising to deal with the nation’s safety challenges.
“The bandits rode into the village on bikes and broke into the hostels and gained entry into rooms by bringing down the home windows,” Sabon Gida resident Sahabi Musa stated.
“They took away at the least 24 feminine college students from the hostels together with two male neighbours, considered one of whom is a employees (member) of the college,” stated Musa, who lives near the hostels.
The attackers went into the college and seized 9 welders engaged on a brand new constructing whereas they had been sleeping, stated Shehu Hashimu, one other resident who corroborated Musa’s account.
One of many welders managed to flee and returned to the varsity, Hashimu stated.
Troops deployed from Gusau, 20 kilometres away and engaged the attackers in a gunfight however a bunch of the abductors herded the hostages away whereas one other group confronted the troopers, the 2 sources stated.
“The attackers had a area day. They operated within the village from 3:00 am to six:00 am unchallenged earlier than troops arrived,” Hashimu stated.
A video shared on-line after the assault confirmed ransacked rooms in one of many hostels with their home windows pulled down.
Yazid Abubakar, Zamfara state police spokesman, confirmed the assault however declined to offer particulars, saying safety personnel had been working to free the captives.
A army officer stated a army operation was underway as troopers had been confronting the attackers in a forest near the close by city of Tsafe.
“Six of the feminine college students have been rescued by troops who pursued the terrorists into the forest,” stated the officer, who requested to not be recognized as a result of he was not authorised to talk on the operation.
Zamfara is considered one of a number of states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorised by bandits who raid villages, kill and kidnap residents as properly and burn houses after looting them.
The gangs keep camps in an enormous forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states.
The criminals have been infamous for mass kidnappings of scholars from faculties in recent times.
In February 2021, bandits raided a woman’s boarding faculty within the city of Jangebe in Zamfara state, kidnapping greater than 300 college students.
The women had been freed days later following a ransom cost by the authorities.
Nigeria is going through a myriad of safety challenges, together with a 14-year jihadist insurgency within the northeast that has killed at the least 40,000 folks and compelled greater than two million others to flee their houses.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
