VOA News | Thursday, March 7, 2024 
Gunmen in Nigeria Kidnap Dozens of Pupils From School, Parents Say

KADUNA, Nigeria — Gunmen kidnapped dozens of school pupils in northern Nigeria on Thursday, residents and parents of the missing children said, in what would be the biggest abduction targeting a school since 2021. Police in Kaduna state did not immediately comment on the abductions, which happened shortly after morning assembly at the Local Government Education Authority School in the town of Kuriga. The number of pupils taken was not immediately clear. “As we speak, people are writing down the names of their children that have gone to the school today and are not back. It is after these statistics that we will know exactly the number” of missing, said Salisu Ahmed Kuriga, whose three younger brothers were missing. Parents said that on arrival at the school the gunmen started shooting sporadically before abducting dozens of pupils and disappearing into the bush. The school was housing primary and secondary school students. “We don’t know what to do, we are all waiting to see what God can do. They are my only children I have on Earth,” Fatima Usman, whose two children were among those abducted, told Reuters by phone…Read more