Nigerian families await news of 300 abducted schoolgirls | THE INTERNATIONAL

JANGEBE, Nigeria (AP) Families in Nigeria have been eagerly awaiting news of their abducted daughters as more than 300 schoolgirls were abducted by gunmen from a government school in the north of the country last week, the latest in a series of abductions. of Mass Schools in West Africa Nation.

Concerned parents gathered at the school on Sunday, guarded by police. Aliyu Ladan Jangebe said his five daughters between the ages of 12 and 16 were in school when the kidnappers entered. The four were taken away, but one escaped hiding in a bathroom with three other girls, he told the Associated Press.

We are not in a good position (because) when you have five children and you are able to provide (only) one. We just thank God … But we are not happy, said Jangebe.

We can not imagine their situation, he said of his missing daughters. Residents of a nearby village said the kidnappers had accompanied the girls through the town like animals, he said.

A resident said gunmen also attacked a military camp and a nearby checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the mass kidnapping.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the priority of governments is for all hostages to be returned safely and unharmed. Police and the army have launched joint operations to rescue the girls, said Mohammed Shehu, a police spokesman in Zamfara state.

The abduction of the girls has caused international outrage.

Pope Francis condemned the abduction and prayed for the girls to be released during his public address in St. Peter’s Square.

I pray for these girls, so that they can return home quickly … I am close to their families and to them, said Francesco, asking people to join him in prayer.

Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the abductions and called for the girls’ immediate and unconditional release and safe return to their families. He called the attacks on schools a serious violation of human and children’s rights, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years. On Saturday, 24 students, six staff and eight relatives were released after being abducted on February 17 by the Kagara Government College of Science in Niger State. In December, more than 300 students from a high school in Kankara, in northwestern Nigeria, were picked up and later released. The government has said no ransom has been paid for the students’ release.

The most notorious abduction was in April 2014, when 276 girls were abducted by Boko Haram jihadist rebels from a high school in Chibok, Borno State. More than 100 of those girls are still missing.

Boko Haram is against Western education and its fighters often target schools. Other organized armed groups, locally called thugs, often kidnap students for money. The government says large groups of armed men in Zamfara state are known to snatch money and push for the release of their imprisoned members.

Nigerian criminal networks could plot more such kidnappings if this round of kidnappings goes unpunished, analysts say.

While improving community policing and security in general remains a medium- to long-term challenge, in the short term the authorities should punish those responsible for sending a strong message that there will be zero tolerance for such acts, said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan-based think tank.

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