At least nine students have been abducted by gunmen during a late-night raid on their school in northern Nigeria's Kogi state, authorities said Friday, the third such abduction amid rampant kidnappings targeting schools in the conflict-hit region this year.
The assailants invaded the Confluence University of Science and Technology in Kogi state, which neighbors the nation's capital, Abuja, and whisked away the students from their classrooms before security forces could arrive, according to Kogi Commissioner for Information Kingsley Femi Fanwo.
The state has "activated the security architecture to track the kidnappers and ensure the abducted students are rescued and the abductors apprehended," Fanwo added.
School-targeted mass abductions have plagued the region since the first such incident in 2014, when Islamic extremists abducted more than 200 schoolgirls. (AFP via Getty Images)
The official said local hunters were helping security forces in "combing" the school area, which is surrounded by bushes in the remote Osara town.
Nigeria has struggled with several mass school kidnappings since the first such incident in 2014 when Islamic extremists abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from the northeastern Chibok village, sparking the global #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.
At least 1,400 Nigerian students have since been abducted from their schools in similar circumstances, including at least 130 children abducted from their school in Kuriga town in the northern Kaduna state in March. Some are still held captive, including nearly 100 of the Chibok girls.
The abductions have been carried out by a variety of armed groups, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), as well as criminal gangs seeking ransom payments.
The Nigerian government has been criticized for its failure to protect schools from attacks and for its slow response to the kidnappings.
In July, President Muhammadu Buhari said that the government was committed to "rescuing all abducted school children" and that it was working with international partners to improve security in schools.
However, the abductions have continued, and there are fears that they will become even more frequent in the future.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a report released in October that at least 3,900 schools had been closed in Nigeria due to insecurity, affecting the education of more than 1.3 million children.
"The abduction of school children is a grave violation of their rights," said UNICEF Nigeria Representative Peter Hawkins. "It is a crime that denies children their right to education, their right to safety, and their right to a future."
