Nigeria’s military has rescued 17 students and a woman who were kidnapped in a dawn raid by armed groups two weeks ago in northwestern Sokoto state, the governor announced.
The March 9 attack on Tsangaya School occurred two days after a mass abduction of schoolchildren in Kaduna, also in the north. Those students are still missing.
Sokoto Governor Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto said the Tsangaya students were released on Friday after an operation coordinated by the military and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“All children are found to be healthy and ready to be reunited with their parents,” he said, without giving details of the rescue operation.
The school’s owner, Liman Abubakar Bakso, said he was traveling to the capital, Sokoto, to bring back the students.
“The ransom was not paid because I was not contacted and the children’s parents were not contacted.” [contacted] The same goes for ransom payments,” Bakuso told Reuters.
Kidnappings and ransom demands by non-ideological criminal organizations occur almost daily, especially in northern Nigeria, tearing apart families and communities who must pool together their savings to pay the ransom, often losing land, cattle, They are forced to sell their grains to ensure their safety. Liberation of a loved one.
