Gunmen abduct 39 students, 7 teachers in attacks on Nigeria schools

The attacks targeted a secondary school and two primary schools, as gunmen kidnapped children aged between two and 16.

Armed men abducted 39 students and seven ⁠teachers in an attack targeting several schools in Nigeria’s southwestern Oyo State last week, officials and a Christian association have said.

The attack took place on Friday in ⁠Ahoro Esinele community in Oriire district, targeting a secondary school and two primary schools, officials said on Monday.

Elisha Olukayode Ogundiya, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Oyo State, said 46 people, mostly children aged between two and 16 years, were taken away following the attacks.

In what police called a “coordinated attack”, armed men simultaneously raided Baptist Nursery and Primary in Yawota, and two other schools in Esiele, seizing pupils and teachers.

President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack as “barbaric”, while promising that the federal government was working with the Oyo State to “rescue all the victims”.

“We expect a breakthrough soon,” he said in a statement released by his office.

Governor Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde said one abducted teacher was killed on Sunday, ‌citing a video. Six suspects have been arrested, including alleged informants and logistics suppliers to the kidnappers, he added.

A joint rescue operation by soldiers, police and local vigilantes was disrupted after they encountered improvised explosive devices planted by the attackers, ⁠leaving several wounded, Makinde added. Those injured ⁠are receiving treatment, he said.

Mass ⁠kidnappings by armed groups have become a serious security challenge in Nigeria in recent years, with criminal gangs exploiting weak security to target travellers, students, and rural communities for cash payments. Schools are often targeted, although such ‌attacks ‌are rare in the southwest of the country.