More than 200 kidnapped children and their teachers have been released in Nigeria

In Nigeria, more than 200 hostages captured in Kuriga village on March 7 have been released. Most of them are children. Also among the freed are adults – teachers of the school that was attacked by unknown invaders in early March.

As reported by the Reuters agency, the army and security service of Nigeria participated in the operation to free the kidnapped. The local authorities did not specify how and under what conditions the hostages were freed, and whether the abductees are still in captivity.

On March 7, about fifty armed men attacked a school in the village of Kuriga in northern Nigeria and took hostage more than 300 students between the ages of seven and 15. Some of them were later released, but at least 286 children were taken away by the attackers. Later, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of one million naira (this is the local currency) for their release, which is 620,432 dollars.

• Abductions of children and women in Nigeria occur regularly. The abduction in the village of Kuriga became one of the most massive since 2014, when the radical group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from a dormitory in Chibok. 98 of them still remain in captivity, they are forced to marry their captors, some have returned home with their children.
• No one has yet taken responsibility for the current abduction of children. The Associated Press and Reuters note that the tactics of the protected ransom council are now being used by criminal groups without an ideological focus. These could be shepherds who conflict with local farmers.