Niger state schools reopen after mass kidnapping

Nigerian officials have announced that schools in Niger state will reopen later this month after mass kidnappings in November forced their closure as part of emergency security measures.

The Niger State Ministry of Education said public and private schools in “safe areas” will be allowed to reopen from January 12 said in a statement.

It added that the decision was taken following a security assessment and “extensive consultation” with security agencies.

In November, more than 250 students and staff were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, western Nigeria, in one of the country’s worst kidnappings to date.

official confirmation All missing students and teachers rescued. Just before Christmas. How the government secured their release, or whether any ransom was paid to the kidnappers, has not been officially disclosed.

Armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits have carried out killings and kidnappings in many parts of Nigeria for years, but there has been a recent surge in reports in the north-central region.

Schools and places of worship there are increasingly being targeted.

The government recently designated criminal gangs as terrorists, and while paying ransoms is illegal in Nigeria, there are claims it is often ignored.

More than 1,500 children have been abducted from the country’s schools since 2014, including 276 girls in the infamous kidnapping spree. Mass kidnapping in Chibok.

It’s unclear which schools will reopen, but the state’s Department of Education said it would release a list.

Venues deemed to be in “unsafe or unsafe areas” will remain closed until the security situation can be assessed, the statement said.

For those welcoming students back, every child must be registered as soon as classes resume, with data sent to the Department for Education within a week.

District officials were also ordered to ensure “an adequate security presence in and around school buildings” to help protect students from future attacks.

But just one day after officials announced the reopening of schools, armed militants attacked a village in Niger state, killing at least 30 people and kidnapping many more, police said.

They added that armed men emerged from the forest during Saturday’s attack on the town of Kasuwan-Daj, burning a local market and looting shops.

Abdullahi Rofia, an official with Niger’s national emergency management agency, told the BBC that residents were gathered, tied up and attacked with knives.

He said people in the community were scared: “They were hiding, afraid to talk to anyone.

“They’re afraid that if you talk, they’re going to turn around and do the same thing to you.”

Additional reporting by Richard Kagoe and Makuochi Okafor