Students Abducted By Bandits In Central Nigeria Freed - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2021) Students kidnapped from a school in the town of Kagara in central Nigeria have been released this Saturday morning as a result of talks between the authorities and the bandits, media reported.

On February 17, a group of armed men wearing army uniforms ambushed a local college and took at least 42 people, including 27 students, three school staffers, and 12 family members, to an unknown destination. The government deployed security troops to rescue the abducted.

According to the Daily Post newspaper, all those freed from the militants' captivity earlier this day are due to arrive in Minna, the capital of the Niger State.

It is unclear whether the bandits received a ransom for their release, but prior to it, they threatened to hold the victims indefinitely if the government did not follow their demands.

The release came after another mass kidnapping of over 300 schoolgirls from an educational facility in the neighboring Zamfara state a day prior. The worrisome trend of similar bandit attacks targeting schools has increased over the last several months in the central and northern parts of Nigeria. The perpetrators conduct assaults either for ransom and other forms of enrichment, or other purposes, including terrorist activities.