The two dozen Nigerian girls who were kidnapped from their school last week were rescued, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said.
The girls’ abduction came amid a slew of kidnappings across the country. Several hundred students and staff were also kidnapped last week in the north-central region of Niger state.
“I am relieved that all the 24 girls have been accounted for. Now, we must put as a matter of urgency more boots on the ground in the vulnerable areas to avert further incidents of kidnapping,” a statement from Tinubu said.
There was some confusion about whether there were 25 girls, as the Nigerian police said last week, but the president cited 24. The details of the rescue mission remain unclear.
Armed attackers abducted the girls last Monday, killing Vice Principal Hassan Yakubu Makuku and injuring a staff member in the country’s Kebbi state.
The men reportedly used rifles and coordinated tactics to storm the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town around 4 a.m. local time. They engaged in a gunfight with police before rushing into the school to kidnap the students.
Police said before the girls were found, tactical units, soldiers, and local vigilantes were deployed to comb suspected escape routes and surrounding forests in a search-and-rescue operation.
Tinubu said last week that he directed the country’s security agencies “to act swiftly and bring the girls back to Kebbi State.” He said he was “depressed that heartless terrorists have disrupted the education of innocent schoolgirls.”
President Donald Trump has expressed outrage at the recent persecution of Christians in Nigeria. The mass abduction of over 300 children in another incident last week and a shooting at a church that left two people dead also contributed to his frustration.
“I’m really angry about it,” the president told Fox News Radio on Friday. “What’s happening in Nigeria is a disgrace.”
NUMBER OF CHILDREN ABDUCTED IN NIGERIAN SCHOOL ATTACK RAISED TO MORE THAN 300
Trump threatened to cut off aid to Nigeria if it “continues to allow the killing of Christians.”
Tinubu responded by saying he would hire tens of thousands of new police officers to calm the violence.
