The Zamfara Government has confirmed the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Talata-Mafara Local Government area of the state.
The governor’s office confirmed the news but declined to say how many people were taken in the second such kidnapping in a little over a week in Nigeria’s nort
Kidnappers have abducted schoolchildren in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state, a spokesman for the state governor says, but declined to say how many people were taken or provide further details.
A police spokesman for the state on Friday did not immediately respond to calls and messages seeking comment.
This is the second such kidnapping in a little over a week in Nigeria's north, where a surge in armed militancy in the northwest has led to a widespread and worsening breakdown of security.
Last week, unidentified gunmen killed a student in an overnight attack on a boarding school in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger and kidnapped 42 people, including 27 students.
The hostages are yet to be released.
State of emergency?
Only two months ago, more than 300 students were kidnapped in Kankara, in nearby Katsina state.
The boys were later released but the incident sparked global outrage and a social media campaign to #BringBackOurBoys.
"A head count is underway to establish how many students were kidnapped," a security source said.
Troops with air support were tracking the bandits for a possible rescue operation, a security source told AFP.
On Tuesday, Niger state authorities said bandits also killed 10 people and kidnapped at least 23 others in attacks on two remote villages.
The region is increasingly a hub for criminal gangs who raid villages, killing and abducting residents after looting and torching homes.
Bandits are known to hide in camps in Rugu forest, which straddles Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states. Despite the deployment of troops, deadly attacks persist.
The gangs are largely driven by financial motives and have no known ideological leanings.
But there is growing concern they are being infiltrated by extremists from the northeast.
The latest kidnapping incident comes nearly three years after 111 schoolgirls were snatched by extremists in Dapchi, in the north, and six years after 276 girls were taken from Chibok, in the northeast, in a raid that shocked the world.
"Nigeria has to declare a state of emergency on insecurity," said Idayat Hassan, director of the Abuja-based Centre for Democracy and Development think tank.
"The government must secure the schools and urgently too, or else (the) Chibok, Dapchi and Kankara school raids will encourage others to do worse."
