Nigeria's Zamfara school abduction: More than 300 Nigerian girls missing

2021-02-26 16:40:46

More than 300 schoolgirls have been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from a school in Nigeria's north-western Zamfara state, police say. Security officers have been dispatched to the town of Jangebe where the girls were seized early on Friday morning. Local officials have confirmed the attack but have not given more details. This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom. At least 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped last week in Kagara, in neighbouring Niger state, are yet to be released. The 2014 kidnap of 276 schoolgirls in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Islamist militants Boko Haram brought global attention to the scourge of raids on schools in Nigeria but the most recent attacks are suspected to be the work of criminal gangs.