The kidnap crisis in Northern Nigeria
5 years ago[FILES] Parents of abducted students of Bethel Baptist High School sit outside the school banner to pray for the return of their children whom were abducted by gunmen in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state, northwest Nigeria on July 14, 2021. - The girls are just two of the more than 100 Nigerian children snatched from Bethel Baptist High School nearly three weeks ago, herded by gunmen into the forests after a kidnapping raid on their dormitories. The July 5 attack in Nigeria's northwest Kaduna state was just the latest mass abduction at a school or college as kidnap gangs seeking quick ransoms zero in on soft target of young students. Armed kidnappings for ransom along highways, and from homes and businesses now make almost daily newspaper headlines in Africa's most populous country. (Photo by Kola Sulaimon / AFP)
Perceived aloofness is compounding matters, with school children increasingly coming under abductions. How do you describe the spate of abductions – of school children and older Nigerians – in Northern…