World News

Kidnappers release 42 abducted students from school in Nigeria

Gunmen in Nigeria have released 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped from a boarding school last week in the north-central state of Niger, the state’s governor said.

Their release comes just a day after a separate raid on a school in Nigeria’s Zamfara state where gunmen seized more than 300 girls. Kidnappings for ransom by armed groups, many of whom carry guns and ride motorcycles, are common across many northern Nigerian states.

Last week, 27 students, three staff and 12 members of their families were abducted by an armed gang who stormed the Government Science secondary school in the Kagara district of Niger state at around 2 am local time, overwhelming the school’s security detail.

Muhammadu Buhari

“The Abducted Students, Staff and Relatives of Government Science Collage Kagara have regained their freedom and have been received by the Niger State Government,” Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said in a tweet. They spent at least 9-10 days in captivity, and at some point a lot of people gave up that anything good will come out of these negotiations,” he said.

Idris said the government was not saying whether it had paid a ransom, after previously ruling out such a move.

“But we understand that the bandits demanded the release of at least six of their members held in police custody. Banditry and kidnapping has become the biggest criminal enterprise now growing fast across Nigeria,” Idris said.

The recent attacks have raised concern about rising violence by armed gangs and groups and in Nigeria. Armed group Boko Haram carries out abductions in Nigeria’s turbulent northeast, as does a branch of the ISIL (ISIS) group.

The unrest has become a political problem for President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who has faced mounting criticism in recent months over high profile attacks by the gangs known locally as “bandits”.

Violence and insecurity have compounded the economic challenges faced by citizens in Africa’s most populous country and top oil exporter, which is struggling to cope with a fall in revenues due to a slump in crude prices in addition to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In other news – Uzalo actor Cebonkosi Mthembu on the verge of being jobless after losing his voice

Cebonkosi Mthembu’s acting and radio career is hanging by a thread after he lost his voice.

Cebonkosi Mthembu

The actor, who plays the cop Nyawo on Uzalo, lost his voice at the beginning of this month which has affected his work. Learn more

Source: Aljazeera