Gunmen have kidnapped dozens of students from a school in western Nigeria, according to local reports – the second mass abduction in the country this week.
The students were taken from St Mary’s School in Agwara, Niger state on Friday, and comes just three days after students were abducted in neighboring Kebbi state.
Officials said the figure was still being checked, but TV station Arise News said 52 had been abducted.
Security agencies in Africa’s most populous country are searching for the students, aged between 12 and 17, said officials.
On Monday, 25 schoolgirls from a boarding school were kidnapped in Kebbi state, northwest Nigeria.
Police said men armed with rifles stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in the town of Maga at around 4am local time (3am uk time), arriving on motorcycles in an apparently well-planned attack.
Student escapes from kidnappers
A 15-year-old student who was among those abducted from the boarding school, in Kebbi state’s Danko-Wasagu area, managed to escape.
She said she found refuge at a teacher’s house.
It was not immediately clear who was to blame for either of the abductions.
Abubakar Usman, the secretary to the Niger state government, said in a statement that the latest kidnapping occurred despite prior intelligence warning of heightened threats.
“Regrettably, St Mary’s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the State Government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,” it read.
Ransom demand for worshippers
Separately, gunmen attacked a church in Kwara state on Monday, killing at least two people.
A church official told Reuters that 38 worshippers were also kidnapped by the gunmen, who have since issued a ransom demand of 100 million naira (£52,660) for each person.
Kebbi, Kwara and Niger states border one another.
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The attacks have highlighted insecurity in Nigeria and forced President Bola Tinubu to postpone foreign trips.
At least 1,500 students have been abducted in the region since Boko Haram extremists seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago.
But bandits are also active in the region, and analysts say gangs often target schools to gain attention.
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Nigeria was recently thrust into the spotlight after Donald Trump singled the country out, claiming that Christians are being persecuted – an allegation that the government rejected.
