Tag: Schools abductions

Niger Abduction: ‘265 teachers, students still unaccounted for’ – Catholic Bishop

Aminu Imam
Bishop on Niger abduction

More than one week after gunmen kidnapped dozens of schoolchildren from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, in Niger State, 265 teachers and children are still unaccounted for.  The Catholic Bishop of Kontagora diocese, Bulus Yohanna, who stated this yesterday during an interview, said the figures comprise 12 teachers and 253 schoolchildren, adding that the diocese has forwarded the names of the hostages to the Niger State governor, Umar Bago.  “We had 303 pupils and students missing and 12 teachers also not seen. We added that number to…

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“FG won’t allow another school attack, students’ abductions” – Defence Minister

Aminu Imam
Badaru Abkr on abductions

Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government will not allow a repeat of attacks on schools across the country. Speaking in an interview in Dutse, Jigawa state,  the Minister said intelligence operatives have been deployed to high-risk areas to forestall further breaches. According to him, security agencies are on heightened alert. “Our intelligence personnel are everywhere – especially in places with high threat levels – gathering information for lasting solutions”, he said. Badaru insisted that the recent incidents should not be interpreted as a…

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Mass School Pupils’ Abductions: ‘No child should be at the mercy of terrorists” – Ramalan, Chairman BoT Northern Broadcast Owners (NBMOA)

Aminu Imam
Tijjani Ramalan

The Chairman Board of Trustees (BoT) of Northern Broadcast Media Owners Association (NBMOA), Alhaji (Dr.) Ahmed Tijjani Ramalan, has condemned the abduction of students in Kebbi and Papiri, in Niger state, describing the attacks as another grim indication of the worsening insecurity across Northern Nigeria. In a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend, Ramalan expressed concern over the incidents, in which bandits abducted hundreds of pupils, teachers across the North, prompting local and international outrage. He said the latest attacks reflect the deepening insecurity across the North, ranging from…

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Niger: 50 students abducted from Catholic School escape

Aminu Imam
Niger students abduction

The Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), in Niger state says fifty students abducted from St Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwara LGA, have escaped from captivity. The association’s chairman Niger state chapter and Catholic Bishop of Kontagora diocese, Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who disclosed this in an issued statement yesterday, said the pupils regained freedom between Friday and Saturday, and “quietly reunited with their families”. According to him, the primary section has 430 pupils, out of which 377 are boarders and 53 day pupils. “Currently, aside from…

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Insecurity: CAN calls for closure of Christian-owned schools

Aminu Imam
S'West back state police

Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna State, Rev. Caleb Ma’aji, has asked all Christian-owned schools located on the outskirts of Kaduna to close down or operate only as day schools for now. Rev. Ma’aji made the appeal yesterday, following the growing insecurity and the recent abductions of schoolchildren in Kebbi, Niger, and other states. According to him, this is important because of the recent rise in student kidnappings by bandits.  He said, “Schools outside Kaduna town should close for now to keep students safe until the…

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Two weeks after, abducted Kaduna schoolchildren, staff yet to return

Aminu Imam

Two weeks since armed bandits invaded the LEA Primary School and the Government Secondary School in Kuriga, Chikun local government area of Kaduna State, on March 7, kidnapping hundreds of learners, including staff members, the abducted captives are yet to return. Despite assurances from President Bola Tinubu and the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, to secure the safe release of the captives, nothing has yet been heard of their freedom. The abductees, totalling 287, include some pupils and secondary school students and staff, whose number remains undisclosed. According to reports, the secondary…

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Schools Abduction: “I wont pay any dime to bandits” – Tinubu

Aminu Imam

President Bola Tinubu says his administration will not condone the activities of bandits terrorising Nigeria, or succumb to their demands for ransom to free children held hostage. President Tinubu made the statement at yesterdays Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Recall that no fewer than 280 children, all under 15 years old, were taken into captivity after hordes of motorcycle-riding bandits invaded LEA school in Kuriga village, in Kaduna State last Thursday. According to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris,…

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Arrest, prosecute abductors of women, children in Borno, Kaduna – JNI urges FG

Aminu Imam

The Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI), has called on the Federal Government to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of abductions at Ngala IDP camp in Borno and Kuriga in Kaduna State. Its Secretary-General, Prof. Khalid Aliyu, who made the call in an issued statement in Kaduna yesterday, said: We also urge the government, most especially the Office of the National Security Adviser and Director-General, Department of State Security, to, as a matter of national interest and stability, do more to prosecute all the perpetrators of heinous crimes against humanity. Taking into…

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Kaduna: LibertyTV/Radio Boss, Ramalan calls for safe, urgent return of abducted students

Aminu Imam

Chairman of Liberty TV and FM Radios, Alhaji (Dr.) Tijjani Ramalan, has offered his sympathy to the Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, and parents of the abducted 287 secondary school students in ??Kaduna State abducted children and called for the safe and quick return of the abducted Kaduna schoolchildren.  Recall that about 300 students were earlier in the week abducted by gunmen in a school in Kurebe, in Chikun local government area in the State. While reacting to the incident in an Interview with the Voice of Liberty on Friday, the Liberty…

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Fear of abduction causing drop in school enrollment Amnesty Intl

Aminu Imam

Eight years after the abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls by Boko Haram, and with more than 1,500 school children abducted by armed groups since the incident, affected regions have seen a decline in school enrollment and attendance, as well as a rise in child marriage and pregnancies of school-age girls, Amnesty International, has said. Amnesty Internationals Nigeria Director, Osai Ojigho, in a report, released yesterday, said: Nigeria is failing to protect vulnerable children. By refusing to respond to alerts of impending attacks on schools across the North of the country,…

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