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Nigeria's Zamfara attack: Hundreds of schoolgirls feared abducted | |
(32 minutes later) | |
This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks | This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks |
Hundreds of schoolgirls are feared to have been kidnapped in the north-western state of Zamfara. | Hundreds of schoolgirls are feared to have been kidnapped in the north-western state of Zamfara. |
A teacher told the BBC that at least 300 students were unaccounted for after the Friday morning attack by gunmen. | A teacher told the BBC that at least 300 students were unaccounted for after the Friday morning attack by gunmen. |
A spokesman for the state's governor has confirmed the attack but did not give details. | A spokesman for the state's governor has confirmed the attack but did not give details. |
This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom. | This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom. |
At least 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped last week in Kagara, in the neighbouring Niger state, are yet to be released. | |
In December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped by gunmen in Kankara in Katsina state and later released after negotiations. | |
But the 2014 kidnap of 276 schoolgirls in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Islamist militants Boko Haram brought global attention to the mounting security challenges Nigeria was facing. | |
Africa Live: More on this and other stories | Africa Live: More on this and other stories |
Is Boko Haram carrying out school kidnappings? | Is Boko Haram carrying out school kidnappings? |
The motorcycle bandits terrorising northern Nigeria | |
The town that lost its girls | The town that lost its girls |
How did the attack happen? | |
Friday's attack happened at 01:00 local time (midnight GMT) when a group of gunmen arrived at the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe town with pick-up vehicles and motorcycles, a teacher told news site Punch. | Friday's attack happened at 01:00 local time (midnight GMT) when a group of gunmen arrived at the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe town with pick-up vehicles and motorcycles, a teacher told news site Punch. |
Some of the gunmen were dressed as government security forces, the report said, adding that they forced the schoolgirls in the vehicles. | Some of the gunmen were dressed as government security forces, the report said, adding that they forced the schoolgirls in the vehicles. |
But other witnesses have told the BBC that the armed men arrived on foot at the school. | But other witnesses have told the BBC that the armed men arrived on foot at the school. |
Worried parents have gathered outside the school and some have gone out into the bush to look for their daughters, witnesses say. | Worried parents have gathered outside the school and some have gone out into the bush to look for their daughters, witnesses say. |
A teacher told the BBC that of 421 students in the school at the time, only 55 had been unaccounted for, meaning more than 300 were believed to have been kidnapped. | A teacher told the BBC that of 421 students in the school at the time, only 55 had been unaccounted for, meaning more than 300 were believed to have been kidnapped. |
Why are schoolchildren being abducted? | |
Every time children are taken from their schools by armed gunmen in northern Nigeria, the kidnapping of the Chibok girls is mentioned. | |
Similar raids took place before that well-publicised abduction but they received little publicity and they never involved girls. | |
But the publicity that incident generated showed armed groups that the mass abduction of children was a sure way of applying pressure on authorities, including asking for ransom, although the authorities always deny paying. | |
The government does not appear to have a strategy for stopping these incidents from happening. | |
But two weeks ago, lawmakers from Zamfara state suggested offering amnesty to repentant kidnappers in exchange for sustainable economic opportunities. | |
It's a controversial strategy but one that yielded some positive results in the Niger Delta, which saw a reduction in crime after a similar amnesty programme in 2009. | |
The government so far says it will not negotiate with criminals. | |
In the meantime, schools in rural northern Nigeria are more vulnerable than they've ever been. | |
Abdulhadi Abubaka describes how he managed to avoid the mass kidnapping in Nigeria's Katsina school in December last year | Abdulhadi Abubaka describes how he managed to avoid the mass kidnapping in Nigeria's Katsina school in December last year |