August 27, 2021

Gunmen have freed about 100 pupils kidnapped from an Islamic seminary school in Niger State nearly three months ago, the school’s head teacher said on Thursday.

Channels Television reports that the head teacher, Abubakar Alhassan, did not, however, say if any ransom was paid and did not give any details about how the pupils were released.

Heavily armed criminals snatched 136 pupils from the seminary in Tegina on May 30. Six of them died in captivity and another 15 escaped in June.

The Northwest and central parts of the country have seen a surge in attacks, looting and mass abductions by bandits. But the bandits this year began targeting schoolchildren and students, demanding more ransom.

Gunmen who kidnapped more than 100 students from a Baptist high school in Kaduna State released 15 more of those hostages after collecting ransom, a representative of the families said on Sunday.