JANGEBE, Nigeria (AP) – Families in Nigeria anxiously awaited news of their kidnapped daughters after more than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped by gunmen from a government school in the north of the country last week, the latest in a series of massive school kidnappings in the West African nation.
Concerned parents gathered at school on Sunday, guarded by the police. Aliyu Ladan Jangebe said his five daughters between the ages of 12 and 16 were in school when the kidnappers stormed in. Four were taken away, but one escaped by hiding in a bathroom with three other girls, he told The Associated Press.
“We’re not in (a) good mood, because if you have five kids and you can have (only) one. We only thank God … But we are not happy, ”said Jangebe.
“We can’t imagine their situation,” he said of his missing daughters. Residents of a nearby village said the kidnappers drove the girls around town like animals, he said.
One resident said the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the mass kidnapping.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the government’s priority is to get all hostages back safe and unharmed. Police and military have begun joint operations to save the girls, said Mohammed Shehu, a police spokesman in Zamfara state.
The kidnapping of the girls has caused international outrage.
Pope Francis condemned the kidnapping and prayed for the girls’ swift release during his public speech in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.
“I pray for these girls so that they may go home soon … I am close to their families and to them,” said Francis, asking the people to join him in prayer.
Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the kidnappings and called for the girls’ “immediate and unconditional release” and a safe return to their families. He called attacks on schools a serious violation of human and children’s rights, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Nigeria has experienced several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years. On Saturday, 24 students, six staff and eight family members were released after being abducted from Government Science College Kagara, Niger, on February 17. In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a high school in Kankara, northwestern Nigeria, were arrested and later released. The government has said no ransom has been paid for the release of the students.
The most infamous kidnapping was in April 2014, when 276 girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadist rebels from Chibok High School, Borno State. More than 100 of those girls are still missing.
Boko Haram is against Western education and the fighters often target schools. Other organized armed groups, locally called bandits, often kidnap students for money. The government says large groups of armed men in Zamfara state are known to kidnap for money and push for the release of their members who are being held in prison.
Nigeria’s criminal networks could plan more such kidnappings if this round of kidnappings goes unpunished, analysts say.
“While improving police force and community security in general remains a medium to long-term challenge, authorities need to punish those responsible in the short term to send a strong message that there will be no tolerance for such acts “said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank.