Three of the twenty students kidnapped by gunmen last Tuesday from Greenfield University in the Nigerian state of Kaduna were shot dead. This was reported by the local authorities, who do not intend to pay any ransom. The bodies of the boys were abandoned near the village of Kwanan Bature, not far from the university. During the attack on the university, a school official was killed and three others were taken away along with the students. This is the fifth assault for the purpose of kidnapping in Kaduna against a school since last December. The offensive of armed gangs has intensified both in Kaduna and in other western states of the country, terrorizing the populations by pillaging villages, stealing livestock and carrying out mass kidnappings for the purpose of extortion.
For several months, mass kidnappings in schools have become one of the main activities of the gangs. Since December, 730 children and adolescents have been abducted in this area of Nigeria. In early March, still in Kaduna, 49 students were taken away from a vocational school and only ten were released. During a press conference last week, the president of the local association of parents of pupils denounced the inaction of the authorities of the state of Kaduna, who have banned any negotiations with the bandits. “We will not give them a cent, they will not make any profits in the state of Kaduna,” warned the governor of the state, Nasir El-Rufai in an interview on local television in early April. There is great fear of the consequences of the phenomenon on the education system of Nigeria, where as many as six Northern states have closed public schools to prevent kidnappings.