(ANSA) - KADUNA, APRIL 21 - Armed men in Nigeria attacked the Greenfield private university in the state of Kaduna, in the north of the country, killing a staff member and kidnapping an unknown number of students, as police and officials said today. Since last December, criminal gangs have increased kidnappings for the purpose of extortion by taking up schools and colleges.
"There was an attack at around 8.15pm (local time) yesterday evening. The suspected bandits infiltrated the university in large numbers," local police spokesman Mohammed Jalige told AFP. "Some students are said to have been kidnapped, but we have yet to verify their number. We have deployed our men to search unresponsive and rescue the victims," he added.
A university staff member was killed last night in the attack on the institute, Samuel Aruwan, the state's security and interior affairs commissioner, said in a statement. "After search and rescue operations, it was confirmed that a member of the university staff was killed by the bandits, while an (unknown) number of detainees were kidnapped," Aruwan said.
The recent mass kidnappings led six Northern Statinigerians to close public schools to prevent further attacks. In fact, since December 2020, about 730 students have been kidnapped, interrupting the studies of over five million children, according to UNICEF estimates. (HANDLE).
