GUSAU (Zamfara, Nigeria), Sept 23 (NNN-GNA) — An unspecified number of female students have been kidnapped by armed gunmen from the Federal University Gusau in north-west Zamfara state, Nigeria.
The abduction took place in the early hours of Friday, with assailants targeting three hostels in the Sabon Gida community. Witnesses reported that the gunmen fired indiscriminately before storming the students’ hostels.
As of now, neither the police nor university authorities have provided an official statement regarding the incident.
This abduction comes after a similar incident in 2021 when over 300 schoolgirls were abducted by bandits in Zamfara state. However, they were later released following negotiations between the government and the kidnappers.
Kidnappings for ransom have been on the rise in the north-western region of Nigeria, with armed gangs targeting individuals in villages, on highways, and even in farmlands.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack though the blame quickly fell on the bandit groups that have been targeting remote communities across Nigeria’s northwest and central regions.
Authorities say the groups are mostly made up of young pastoralists from Nigeria’s Fulani tribe caught up in a decades-long conflict between host communities and herdsmen over limited access to water and land.
Zamfara police spokesman Yazid Abubakar said a manhunt has been launched to arrest the attackers.
“A combined search and rescue team made up of the police, the army and the air force have embarked on the search and rescue,” he said. — NNN-GNA
