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Over 200 Students Kidnapped from Nigerian School
In a brazen attack that has reignited fears over Nigeria’s security crisis, gunmen stormed a government primary school in Chikun’s Kuriga town on Thursday morning, seizing nearly 200 students hostage.
Local youth leader Joshua Madami reported that the assailants struck shortly after the 8:00 am assembly, leaving parents and teachers helpless. As anxious hours stretched into the afternoon, security forces and government officials finally arrived in the town to launch a search operation. Local residents and desperate families gathered, clinging to any hope for their children’s safe return.
“The government, alongside security agencies, is deploying all resources to secure the students’ rescue,” stated Musa, the council chairman.
This mass abduction comes on the heels of another horrific kidnapping just days ago, where extremists in northeastern Nigeria snatched over 200 people, primarily women and children. Such targeting of vulnerable populations is a chilling tactic employed by armed groups in the conflict-ridden north. Many victims are only released after hefty ransoms are paid.
Experts warn that these recent attacks are pointers of Nigeria’s worsening security situation. As per an Associated Press analysis, violence claimed the lives of hundreds in 2023 alone.
President Bola Tinubu, elected last year on a promise to quell the nationwide violence, faces mounting pressure to deliver. However, Oluwole Ojewale, a West and Central Africa researcher with the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies, lamented, “There has been no significant improvement in the security situation to date.”
Sahel Junta Alliance Forms Joint Force to Counter Jihadists
In a move bolstering their military alliance, the leaders of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso – all under military rule – Wednesday announced the formation of a joint force to combat the growing jihadist threat in the West African Sahel region.
The announcement follows talks held in the Nigerien capital, Niamey. Details on the force’s size and deployment timeline remain unclear, though Niger’s army chief, Moussa Salaou Barmou, emphasized its swift operationalization.
This initiative comes amidst a surge in violence across the Sahel. Jihadist groups affiliated with Islamic State and al-Qaeda have inflicted heavy casualties in the region, killing thousands over the past year.
The three nations, increasingly aligned in recent months, formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) last September. This move saw them withdraw from the existing G5 Sahel force, an international counter-terrorism initiative.
Despite promises from the military regimes to quell the decade-long jihadist insurgency, violence has only intensified. All three countries have severed ties with France, their former colonial power, and its significant Sahelian military presence.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), operational for over a decade, was also recently forced to withdraw at the behest of the Malian junta. This growing isolation has seen the military regimes forge closer ties with Russia, which has expanded its military presence in the region.
Further straining regional relations, the three nations recently announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOWAS has been pressuring the juntas for a swift return to civilian rule, imposing sanctions in the process.
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