Armed gunmen in have kidnapped school going children in Nigeria.

International reports reveal that the armed men  stormed Lea primary in Kuriga Village of Kaduna’s Chikun district, and abducted more than 300 children.

The children were taken on motorcycles, the police spokesperson Mansur Hassan said. Some of the children were rescued but 287 still remain with the gunmen The children are young as 8 years.

“The students were kidnapped from the school compound on Thursday morning where 100 are from primary side and 187 from the secondary side, initially over 300 were kidnapped but some were rescued,” he added.

“The government is doing everything possible to ensure the safe return of pupils and students” Uba Sani said in a statement.

Kaduna estate which borders the Nigerian capital Abuja to the southwest, has been grappling with recurring cases of kidnapping and abduction for ransom in the recent years including the district where LEA primary in situated.  In 2021, at least 140 students were kidnapped by gunmen from a private secondary school. The incident came after 20 students from a private university were abducted. Five of them were killed after the ransom deadline was not met.

Those who have been kidnapped and freed have in the past talked about the ordeal they went through including doing menial job. Apart from ransoms, gangs have in the past demanded for foodstuffs, motorcycles and even petrol in the exchange of release of hostages.

The gangs often extort money from people, but the fact that they are unable to farm means there are fewer funds available.

The vast forest cover in the border regions facilitate gangs to conduct their illegal activities of abductions.

At least 287 school children, some as young as eight years old, are being held by gunmen who raided their school in Nigeria’s northwestern Kaduna State early Thursday, a police spokesperson told CNN Friday. https://t.co/IiSgUG3Llk

— CNN Africa (@CNNAfrica) March 8, 2024