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Only on Friday 32 kidnapped students from a Baptist school in Kaduna were freed
Photo: AP Photo / AP
In northwest Nigeria, armed men kidnapped more than 70 school children.
The students were abducted from a state secondary school in the northwestern state of Zamfara, confirmed a police spokesman, Muhammad Shehu, of the German press agency on Wednesday evening.
The identity and motive of the perpetrators were initially unclear.
In the fight against the increasing violence and numerous mass kidnappings, some states restricted public life.
Only on Friday 32 kidnapped students from a Baptist school in Kaduna were freed.
31 others were still in the hands of the kidnappers.
On Thursday, 92 students were freed who had been kidnapped from an Islamic school in Niger state around three months ago.
For years, attacks by criminal gangs have been increasing in the north and center of Nigeria.
The groups that the authorities call "bandits" kidnap schoolchildren and students in order to extort ransom and are also responsible for looting and cattle theft.
The criminals are often out and about on motorbikes.
Since the beginning of the year, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of abducted people.
Authorities estimate that around 1,000 children have been kidnapped since December 2020.
Many of the boys and girls have disappeared without a trace.
The most spectacular case occurred in 2014 when the Islamist terrorist militia Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls.
kim / dpa / AFP