After a string of kidnapping in Northwest Nigeria, the crime has not let up.
Reuters reported: “LAGOS, June 17 (Reuters) – Gunmen killed a police officer and kidnapped at least 80 students and five teachers from a school in the Nigerian state of Kebbi, police, residents and a teacher said.
The attack is the third mass kidnapping in three weeks in northwest Nigeria, which have authorities have attributed to armed bandits seeking ransom payments.”
According to Usman Aliyu, a teacher at the school, most of the 80+ students kidnapped were females.
The Kebbi State police claimed that after murdering one police officer, a student was also shot. The exact number of students missing is currently unknown as the count continues.
Allegedly these criminals have abducted more than 800 students in Nigeria since December. Many students remain missing while some have been freed. The ultimate goal is ransom money.
These raids are separate from other kidnappings carried out by Boko Haram, an islamist insurgency in 2014 according to Reuters.