Investing.com - Financial Markets Worldwide
Black Friday is Now! Don’t miss out on up to 60% OFF InvestingProCLAIM SALE

Zamfara state govt in talks with kidnappers of 317 Nigerian schoolgirls - officials

Published 01/03/2021, 18:03
Updated 01/03/2021, 18:06

MAIDUGRI, March 1 (Reuters) - Officials in Nigeria's Zamfara
state are in touch with the gunmen who abducted 317 schoolgirls
last week and are negotiating their release, two state officials
told Reuters on Monday.
The armed men took the girls from a boarding school in the
increasingly lawless northwestern part of Nigeria early on Feb.
26, the region's second school kidnapping in a week.
Zamfara Information Commissioner Sulaiman Tanau Anka told
Reuters via phone that officials knew where the girls were being
held and who had them, but would not send in armed security
forces for fear of harming the girls.
Education Commissioner Ibrahim Abdullahi confirmed the
talks.
"Negotiations at high level (are) ongoing and we are hoping
for a favourable outcome very soon," Abdullahi said.
Zamfara police have worked alongside the army in a
search-and-rescue operation since Friday, after the students
were taken from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in
the town of Jangebe.
Anka added that "repentant" bandits who had participated in
a state government amnesty programme were serving as
interlocutors between the kidnappers and the government.
"Bandit" is a catch-all term for groups of armed men who
kidnap for ransom, raid villages and russle cattle, rather than
for any ideological or political aim.
On Sunday, two Reuters' correspondents saw a heavy military
presence in Zamfara state capital Gusau, with army trucks moving
in convoy and police checkpoints on major roads. Schools in the region have become targets for mass
kidnappings for ransom. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on
Friday urged state governments not to reward bandits with money
or vehicles. Zamfara's governor ordered all boarding schools to
close immediately after the kidnapping.

Latest comments

Install Our App
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.