Nigerian authorities confirmed that 136 schoolchildren were kidnapped by gunmen in the north of the country earlier this week, including five-year-old students.
The school’s owner, Omar Idris, told the Associated Press that “gunmen riding motorcycles targeted the Salih Tanko Islamic School on Sunday, killing one person and kidnapping three teachers as well.”
Idris added that “the number may be higher because school officials were unable to communicate with all parents to ensure that their children returned home.”
“We sent a message asking parents who have not yet been informed to contact the school,” he said, adding that three teachers were also kidnapped.
The gunmen left other nursery school students behind because they could not move fast enough, when the gunmen forced the kidnappers to walk into the forest.
“The 11 children were between 3 and 4 years old and did not have enough strength to follow up with the gunmen, so they abandoned them on the way,” Idris said, adding that he found them hours after the attack.
The ages of the kidnapped students range from 3 to 14, and parents worry that some of the youngest kidnapped may not be able to survive in the forest.
Gunmen kidnapped hundreds of students in northern Nigeria this year, and the government was unable to prevent a series of kidnappings for ransom and as a result, several schools were forced to close due to kidnapping fears.
Source: “Associated Press”