24 schoolgirls abducted from Kebbi in Nigeria have been rescued, president says

SOKOTO, Nigeria (AP) — All 24 schoolgirls held by assailants following a mass abduction last week from a school in northwestern Nigeria have been rescued, the country’s president announced Tuesday.

A total of 25 girls were abducted Nov. 17 from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi state’s Maga town, but one of them was able to escape the same day, the school’s principal said. The remaining 24 were all rescued, according to a statement from President Bola Tinubu, though no details were released about the rescue.

“I am relieved that all the 24 girls have been accounted for. Now, we must put as a matter of urgency more boots on the ground in the vulnerable areas to avert further incidents of kidnapping,” the statement quoted Tinubu as saying.

The attack in Kebbi was among a spate of recent mass abductions in Nigeria, including a raid Friday on the Saint Mary’s School in north-central Niger state in which more than 300 students and staff from the Catholic school were abducted. Fifty students escaped over the weekend.

Musa Rabi Magaji, principal of the primarily Muslim school in Kebbi, told The Associated Press that all of the girls had been released but that they were still in the custody of authorities. He had no immediate details of their condition.

Abdulkarim Abdullahi, whose two daughters aged 12 and 13 were among those abducted, said authorities told him the girls were being taken to the state capital of Birnin Kebbi.

“I am excited to receive the news of their freedom, the past few days have been difficult for me and my family, especially their mother,” Abdullahi said in a telephone interview. “I will wait to see from the government about their wellbeing, but I can’t wait to see them in good health.”

On Tuesday, police said gunmen abducted 10 people in a community in central Nigeria’s Kwara state. The state’s police spokesperson Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi said the attack took place in the village of Isapa, which is only 19 kilometers (12 miles) from Eruku, where 38 worshippers were kidnapped during a deadly church attack last week. The 38 have since been freed, Kwara Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said in a statement on Sunday.

No group has claimed responsibility for the recent abductions, but analysts and locals say gangs of bandits often target schools, travelers and remote villagers in kidnappings for ransoms. The gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as one way of dominating remote communities with little government and security presence.

Authorities say the bandits are mostly former herders who have taken up arms against farming communities after clashes between them over strained resources.

School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention. At least 1,500 students have been seized in Nigeria since the famous kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago, and many of the children were released only after ransoms were paid.

The kidnappings are happening as U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, although attacks have affected both Christians and Muslims.

Arrests are rare and ransom payments are common in many of the hot spots in northern Nigeria.

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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Dyepkazah Shibayan in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.