Kano
Gunmen raided a college in northwestern Nigeria and kidnapped at least 30 students, government officials and parents said on Friday, in the latest mass abduction targeting a school.
The kidnap gang stormed the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando, Kaduna state, around 9:30pm on Thursday, shooting indiscriminately before taking students.
The Kaduna college was said to have some 300 male and female students — mostly aged 17 and older — at the time of the attack.
Kaduna state commissioner for internal security Samuel Aruwan said 30 of the students were missing while the army was able to rescue 180 people after a battle with the gunmen.
“The troops successfully rescued 180 citizens; 42 female students, eight staff and 130 male students,” Aruwan said in a statement.
“However, about 30 students, a mix of males and females, are yet to be accounted for.” The commissioner said some of the rescued students were injured during the operation and were being treated a military hospital.
Police and military personnel stood guard around the college at the outskirts of Kaduna city on Friday afternoon as anxious parents and families waited for news. A fighter jet flew overhead.—Reuters
