A child holds a sign protesting the mass kidnapping in the town of Koriga, yesterday/Reuters
Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped more than 300 school and high school students between the ages of seven and 15 - this is what the education authorities and parents of the boys and children said yesterday (Friday).
The mass kidnapping, the biggest in Nigeria since 2021, took place on Thursday in the town of Koriga in Kaduna County State.
No organization has accepted responsibility as of this stage.
Seliso Abubakar, a teacher at the local education authority school, said some students were later released and some others escaped, but at least 286 remained missing.
President Bola Tinubu, who was elected last year to the position while promising to improve the security situation, said that he directed the security and intelligence agencies to save the children "and ensure that justice is done against the criminals".
Among the abductees was seven-year-old Sepia Kuriga.
Her mother said she complained about feeling hot, but she still made her attend class on Thursday.
Within two hours armed men entered her school and kidnapped Safia along with hundreds of other students.
"I forced her to go to school that morning even though she complained to me about a fever," a sobbing Khadija Koriga told Reuters in a phone call.
"We have been crying since yesterday. Our children are hungry."
"They cried from hunger, exhaustion and dehydration"
Aminu Abdullahi, 13 years old, said that the gunmen numbered about 50 people and they shot into the air when they entered the school.
He said he was lucky and ran into the bush to hide until the gunmen left with many of his classmates.
"They came on motorcycles with guns, some of them dressed in military uniforms standing and shouting 'You all need to stop' while shooting in the air," Aminu said.
He added that he managed to escape from one of the gunmen who was chasing him and returned to his home.
Ali, the eight-year-old son of Sani Muazu, also managed to escape, but only after being taken deep into the thicket by the kidnappers.
He was in class when gunmen stormed in and ordered everyone to follow them.
According to his father, before he realized what was happening, Ali walked barefoot in the bush with dozens of others, followed by the gunmen.
"My son didn't know how many there were, but he said they were many. They were crying from hunger, exhaustion and dehydration," said Mouazo.
As darkness fell, the children were forced to sleep in a large clearing and Ali saw an opportunity to escape.
"That's how my son managed to escape and returned home all night. We just saw him coming early in the morning and we are grateful to God," Muzo said.
Kidnappings from schools in Nigeria first characterized the tactics of the jihadist organization Boko Haram, which became infamous around the world when it kidnapped more than 200 female students from a girls' school in Chibok in Borno state about a decade ago.
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