1 of 25 college students kidnapped in Nigeria discovered secure as search continues for lacking women

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A schoolgirl who was kidnapped with 24 others from a dormitory in northwestern Nigeria has escaped and is secure, the college's principal informed The Related Press on Tuesday, as hunters joined safety forces within the seek for the lacking college students in forests near the college.

The women have been kidnapped earlier than daybreak on Monday, when gunmen attacked the dorm on the Authorities Ladies Complete Secondary Faculty in Kebbi state's Maga city.

Native police mentioned the gunmen scaled the fence to enter the college premises and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officials earlier than seizing the women and killing a workers member.

No group has claimed accountability for taking the women, however analysts and locals say gangs of bandits usually goal colleges, travellers and distant villagers in kidnappings for ransom. Authorities say the bandits are principally former herders who've taken up arms in opposition to farming communities after clashes over strained sources.

Mass faculty kidnappings are particularly frequent in northern Nigeria, and the Kebbi faculty is near battle scorching spots, together with Zamfara and Sokoto states, the place a number of gangs are identified to function and conceal out.

The scholar who escaped arrived dwelling late Monday, hours after the kidnapping, in line with faculty principal Musa Rabi Magaji. One other pupil was capable of escape the gunmen within the minutes after the raid and was not kidnapped, the principal informed the AP.

"They're secure and sound," Magaji mentioned.

A video verified by AP reveals the 2 schoolgirls, who look like of their early teenagers, carrying hijabs and surrounded by household and different villagers. Excessive schoolers in Nigeria are often aged between 12 and 17.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Police officers stand guard outside of a school. " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/6394ce1b-0720-4694-84ac-9586cc1d9b9a,1763513284117/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3652%2C2434%29%3BResize%3D805 805w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/6394ce1b-0720-4694-84ac-9586cc1d9b9a,1763513284117/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3652%2C2434%29%3BResize%3D1104 1104w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/6394ce1b-0720-4694-84ac-9586cc1d9b9a,1763513284117/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3652%2C2434%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) 93.6vw,730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/6394ce1b-0720-4694-84ac-9586cc1d9b9a,1763513284117/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3652%2C2434%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.5004108463434676" data-cy="image-img"/> Law enforcement officials stand guard exterior the college the place youngsters have been kidnapped by gunmen in Kebbi, Nigeria. (Deeni Jibo/The Related Press) Safety forces and hunters, in the meantime, have intensified efforts to seek out and rescue the others, native officers mentioned. Safety groups swept close by forests the place gangs usually conceal whereas others have been deployed alongside main roads resulting in the college.

Kebbi Gov. Nasir Idris visited the college on Monday and guaranteed individuals of efforts to rescue the women, and Nigeria's Chief of Military Workers Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu met with troopers within the hours after the assault and directed "intelligence-driven operations and relentless day-and-night pursuit of the abductors," in line with a military assertion.

"We should discover these youngsters. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence. Success shouldn't be non-obligatory," the military chief mentioned.

Households recount predawn assault By Tuesday morning, the dorm and the classroom block — a strolling distance aside — have been abandoned. In Maga, households ready for information of their youngsters's freedom expressed anger and frustration.

Resident Abdulkarim Abdullahi, whose daughter and granddaughter - aged 13 and 10 respectively - have been among the many kidnapped youngsters, mentioned he overheard the noise from his home.

"I used to be at dwelling once I out of the blue heard gunshots from the college. We have been informed that the attackers entered the college with many bikes," mentioned Abdullahi.

Amina Hassan, spouse of the college vice-principal Hassan Yakubu Makuku, mentioned the assailants broke into their home, which is on the college premises, and fatally shot her husband.

He was additionally the college's chief safety officer.

"Three of them entered and requested my husband, ‘Are you Malam Hassan?' and he responded, ‘Sure, I'm.' They informed him that we're right here to kill you," she informed the AP.

Abductions a technique to attract consideration Not less than 1,500 college students have been seized within the area since Boko Haram jihadi extremists seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls over a decade in the past.

However bandits are additionally energetic within the area, and analysts say gangs usually goal colleges to realize consideration.

WATCH | Extra on mass abductions in Nigeria: Kidnapping disaster in Nigeria retains youngsters out of college

A rash of kidnappings in Nigeria has households dwelling in concern and a few maintaining their youngsters out of college. Officers say excessive unemployment and a struggling financial system has led to an increase in kidnappers looking for ransom. Analysts and residents blame the insecurity on a failure to prosecute identified attackers, and the rampant corruption that limits weapons provides to safety forces whereas making certain a gentle provide to the gangs.

"To illustrate individuals have been kidnapped within the markets - it would not go far, (or) if individuals have been kidnapped on the highway — it would not go far," mentioned Oluwole Ojewale, a safety analyst on the Institute for Safety Research.