Nigeria: Gunmen kidnap college students at school assault

Students and lecturers had been kidnapped from a college in Niger state, Nigerian officers confirmed on Wednesday.
Schools have grow to be common targets for militant teams in Nigeria in addition to prison gangs in search of ransom cash.
What we all know to this point
The early-morning assault occurred on the Government Science College within the city of Kagara in Niger state.
At least one scholar is believed to have been killed after gunmen opened fireplace on the faculty, sources instructed information broadcaster “Channels” and the Leadership newspaper.
An precise variety of college students detained will not be identified. An estimated 1,000 youngsters attend the college.Several lecturers had been additionally kidnapped.
The college students had been herded by the attackers into a close-by forest, AFP reported.
What have officers stated?
President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the kidnapping and ordered a rescue operation.
“The President has directed the Armed Forces and Police, to ensure immediate and safe return of all the captives,” his spokesman Garba Shehu stated in a press release.
Buhari additionally urged safety forces “to do all that can be done to bring an end to this saga, and avoid such cowardly attacks on schools in the future.”
The assertion stated the total variety of college students and workers who had been kidnapped was not but identified.
What do we all know concerning the kidnappers?
The kidnappers and their motives weren’t instantly clear. Nigerian officers haven’t but publicly launched particulars.
The attackers appeared in “huge numbers” on the faculty within the early hours of Wednesday morning, carrying army uniforms.
Although investigations are ongoing, an official who requested anonymity instructed AFP the gunmen are believed to belong to a prison gang.
Criminal gangs, referred to domestically as “bandits,” have more and more been concerned in kidnappings, rape and different crimes throughout central and northern Nigeria.
The gangs are pushed by monetary motives — kidnapping youngsters and others and holding them for ransom.
The Islamist group Boko Haram in addition to a department of the militant “Islamic State” (IS) group have additionally carried out mass kidnappings prior to now in northern Nigeria.
Schools focused
In December final 12 months, an armed group kidnapped 344 schoolboys from their faculty within the northwestern Katsina state.
They had been launched shortly after the kidnapping and returned to their households.
In 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped over 270 schoolgirls from the city of Chibok. Around 100 stay lacking.