Khadiya Kuriga, the mother of abducted seven-year-old Safiya Kuriga said she compelled her daughter to attend class on Thursday, in spite of her complaint about feeling feverish.
In less than two hours, armed men stormed her school and kidnapped Safiya, teachers and other pupils numbering over 300 in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state.
“I forced her to go to school that morning despite her complaining to me of a fever,” a sobbing Khadiya Kuriga spoke on phone. “We have been crying since yesterday. Our children are hungry.”
The armed men kidnapped more than 300 primary and secondary school students between the ages of seven and 15, school authorities and parents confirmed on Friday.
Salisu Abubakar, a teacher at the Local Government Education Authority School said some students were able to escape, leaving at least 286 missing.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, the first mass school abduction in Nigeria since July 2021, when gunmen kidnapped 150 children.
President Bola Tinubu had directed security and intelligence agencies to rescue the children “and ensure that justice is served against the perpetrators.”
Kidnappings at schools in Nigeria were first carried out by jihadist group Boko Haram, who seized more than 200 students from a girls’ school in Chibok in Borno state a decade ago.
Criminal gangs and miscreants without any ideological affiliation have since adopted the tactics, seeking ransom payments, according to security authorities.
Residents said the gumen wearing military uniforms numbered about 50 on motorbikes and were shooting sporadically when they stormed the school.
He lunged into the bush to hide until the gunmen left with many of his schoolmates.
Eight-year-old Ali Muazu managed to escape barefoot after reaching deep into the bush by the kidnappers.
“My son did not know how many they were but he said they were many. They were crying of hunger, exhaustion and dehydration,” Muazu said.
When darkness fell, the children were made to sleep in a large clearing in the forest and Ali saw an opportunity to escape.
“That was how my son managed to escape and walked back home throughout the night. We just saw him arrive early this morning and we are grateful to God,” Muazu’s father said.