TheCable

At least 1,119 students have now been abducted over the course of seven years in northern Nigeria. 

In the early hours of Friday, suspected bandits attacked Government Girls Secondary School in Zamfara state and kidnapped about 279 students.

The attack, which took place in Jangebe in Talata-Mafara local government area, catapulted Nigeria to a grim record of the abductions of over 1,000 students.

Since April 2014 when Boko Haram insurgents kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno state, Nigeria has suffered five similar mass abductions across five northern states.

A total of 1,157 students have been taken hostage during those attacks, with about half of them still in captivity.

Here is a quick rundown of the abductions.

276 ABDUCTED IN CHIBOK

Between April 14 and 15, 2014, Boko Haram insurgents invaded the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) in Chibok local government area of Borno state from where they abducted 276 students.

Dozens of the girls managed to escape from captivity while many others were freed in subsequent years through military operations and a prisoner swap deal. More than 100 are still being held by the insurgents till date.

113 TAKEN HOSTAGE IN DAPCHI

In neighbouring Yobe state where Boko Haram has also operated in the last decade, 113 persons were abducted when the insurgents struck at Government Girls Secondary and Technical College in Dapchi. Those abducted comprised111 students of the school and two other pupils from an unnamed primary school.

All the girls have been freed except Leah Sharibu who is reportedly being held back for refusing to denounce Christianity.

344 KIDNAPPED IN KANKARA

In Katsina state where President Muhammadu Buhari hails from, suspected bandits abducted 344 students during a late night attack on Government Science Secondary School in Kankara.

During the attack on December 11, heavily armed bandits were said to have shot into the air to scare away people from the school which has a population of about 800 students.

Seventeen of the students managed to escape while those in captivity were released after six days.

ANOTHER 80 STUDENTS FALL VICTIM IN MAHUTA

As Nigerians were still reeling from the shock of the Kankara abductions, news broke that 80 students of Islamiyya schools have been abducted in Mahuta town, Dandume local government area of Katsina.

The attack which took place on December 20 happened while the Islamic students were on their way back home from a Maulud procession at Unguwar Al-Kasim, a nearby village.

Fortunately, they were rescued shortly after in a joint effort between the police and local vigilante.

IN NIGER, 27 STUDENTS REMAIN WITH BANDITS

The attacks shifted to the north-central on February 17 when armed bandits invaded the Government Science College (GSC) Kagara in Niger state and abducted 27 students. 

This time, they also left with members of their family and some teachers in the school — 42 hostages in total,t all of whom are still in captivity more than a week after. 

TheCable would later find out that the police ignored an alert from the community when they saw the signs a day before the attack.

AND NOW, WE HAVE THE JANGEBE ABDUCTIONS

The latest in the series of attacks happened on Friday when the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Talata-Mafara local government area of Zamfara fell to bandits.

The police initially confirmed that 317 students were abducted but the state government gave the final figure as 279.

Editor’s note: The story has been updated twice to reflect the official figure of the Jangebe abductions.