Gunmen abduct 30 students in Nigeria, police confirm, in ongoing spate of kidnappings

Nigerian police have said that 30 students remain unaccounted for after gunmen targeted a technical college in the northwest of the country late Thursday night, as the shocking trend of student kidnapping continues.

Speaking on Friday, Kaduna State’s security commissioner, Samuel Aruwan, said that the militants, often referred to as bandits, struck at 11:30pm on Thursday night. 

Aruwan said that around 30 individuals remain missing after the nighttime raid at the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization on the outskirts of Kaduna town, the state capital.

The police commissioner said that the army had rescued 180 people, adding some staff were among those seized by the gunmen. Security forces “are conducting an operation to track the missing students,” he added.

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It is not clear which group was behind the attack on the Kaduna college, which is located just miles away from a military training academy. A local resident told the BBC they had dismissed the commotion as they often hear the sound of gunshots from the Nigeria Defence Academy.

Around 20 army trucks were seen around the college on Friday and relatives of the students were gathered at the site.

More than 800 people have been kidnapped since December in a series of raids across northern Nigeria. In a recent attack in Zamfara State, 279 girls were abducted from the Government Girls’ Science Secondary School (GGSS) in Jangebe. All the girls were released by their captors a week later, largely unharmed.

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