(Kano) Zamfara state in northern Nigeria reopened some of its schools on Monday four months after they were closed due to mass kidnappings by criminal gangs, the local government said.
Posted yesterday at 3:14 p.m.
Schools were closed in September following the abduction of 80 students from a secondary school in the village of Kaya. Northwestern Nigeria is the target of a wave of mass kidnappings.
Central and northwestern Nigeria have for years been the scene of criminal gangs, known locally as “bandits”, who attack villages, steal livestock, loot and kill people.
Criminal gangs have gradually oriented their activities towards kidnapping schoolchildren in order to obtain ransoms from parents.
A total of 115 schools reopened on Monday and another 85 remained closed “until the security situation improves”, according to a statement from the state Department of Education.
About 1,500 schoolchildren were kidnapped by these gangs last year in 20 mass abductions in the region and 16 students lost their lives there, according to the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF).
Most of the hostages were released after negotiations, but some remain in captivity.
Hundreds of schools have been closed due to these kidnappings in Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger, Sokoto and Jigawa states.