In the district of Kankara, the latest serious episode of violence in the country took place late on Friday evening. An armed group stormed the Government Science Secondary School, intending to enter and kidnap students. The intervention of the Nigerian army allowed some students to escape, said the Police spokesman.
The school in question houses around 800 students, but the number of missing and abducted students is still uncertain. The violence took place in the district of Kankara, part of Katsina State, in northwestern Nigeria. This area is constantly under attack by armed groups, whose aim is to kidnap the local population for ransom. Those involved are often very young boys and girls, as in this case where the victims were all students of a male secondary school.
Several international Organizations, such as Save the Children and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have called for the immediate and unconditional release of the kidnapped children. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the attack on the Kankara school a gross violation of children's human rights and urged the Nigerian authorities to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
According to the Nigerian government, a search and rescue operation by the police began on Saturday. The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, also declared that the authorities had located the kidnappers' hideout in a forest and that a military operation is currently underway.
To know more, please read:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1079942
Author: Francesca Mencuccini; Editor: Carla Leonetti
