Gunmen free 100 Islamiyya students three months after abduction

Gunmen have released over 100 students kidnapped nearly three months ago from an Islamic seminary in Niger State, according to the school’s headteacher on Thursday.

The headteacher, Abubakar Alhassan, did not, however, say if any ransom was paid.

He did not give any details about how the pupils were released.

Heavily armed criminals snatched 136 pupils from the seminary in Tegina on May 30. Six of them died in captivity and another 15 escaped in June.

The Northwest and central parts of the country have seen a surge in attacks, looting, and mass abductions by bandits. But the bandits this year began targeting schoolchildren and students, demanding more ransom.

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• RELATED: 36 feared dead as gunmen attack Plateau
• RELATED: Bandits abducted 204 students from five schools in Kaduna alone in 2021, according to police.

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Gunmen who kidnapped more than 100 students from a Baptist high school in Kaduna State released 15 more of those hostages after collecting ransom, a representative of the families said on Sunday.

Around 1,000 students have been kidnapped since December after gunmen started to hit schools. Most have been released after negotiations, but scores are still being held in forest camps.