AT least 200 students of an Islamic school located at Tegina in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have been abducted, Channels TV reports.

One person was said to have been shot dead while another was critically injured after gunmen carried out the kidnap operation at about 16:30 local time on Sunday.

A local told Channels that “The Islamiyya school is not the usual Sangaya boarding Islamic citadel, but a conventional one, where parents send their children on a daily basis for the purpose of acquiring Islamic education.”

However, the Secretary to the Niger State Government, Ahmed Matane, said the number of the abducted students had yet to be ascertained.

Matane stated, “Yes, there was an attack at the Islamiyya school, but we do not yet have the exact number of students that were abducted. We are in touch with parents in the area to know those whose children were abducted.”

The SSG, who is the Chairman of the State Security Committee, further revealed that while the attack in Tegina was going on, there were simultaneous attacks elsewhere in Lavun LGA and some fringes of Mashegu LGA.

Who is responsible for these attacks?

Locals refer to them as bandits – criminal gangs that have turned to hostage-taking and other crimes because they have little choice to survive.

These “bandits” are mostly ethnic Fulanis, traditionally nomadic herders who have seen public grazing lands shrink due to climate change and their cattle and sheep stolen by soldiers and rustlers. Successive governments have neglected and even harassed them – failing to protect their way of life.

About 730 children and students have been kidnapped Since December 2020, a UNICEF tally showed. At least six states shut down schools temporarily.

Amnesty International said in a report in April that “over 600 schools” have been shut in Nigeria’s northern region as kidnapping spirals.

These kidnappers are becoming more emboldened. When they abducted students from Greenfield University last month, parents say they paid N180 million ($400,000) to secure the release of their children.

Nigeria is blessed with crude oil and other natural resources, but corruption and inefficient governance has pushed almost 70% of the country’s population into poverty.

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Kidnappers had invaded the community around 11:00 p.m. last Thursday and whisked away Uthman Mohammed, his family members and other persons from the community while beheading one other person.

Ahmad Uthman, brother to two of the victims, told reporters on Saturday that the bandits had contacted them with his kidnapped brother’s number, demanding N20 million ransom or they would kill them.

“They didn’t allow room for talking, they just said, ‘are you the brother to so and so? Go and get us N20 million, and they cut the call. The N20 million is for the two people from my house. They called the others (families) too. They were demanding different amounts from each family,” Mr Uthman revealed.

He further added that his brother, while being tortured by the bandits, pleaded with them to sell his house to enable them meet the demands of the kidnappers so they can be set free.

He said: “They called this evening (Saturday). We heard them beating my senior brother, speaking Hausa and torturing him, saying ‘you think we are joking? If you don’t have money, then you will see death.’ As he was being thoroughly beaten and tortured, he was saying ‘go and sell my house, give them the money they want.’ We are expecting their (bandits) call again tomorrow (Sunday).

The families of the abducted persons have, however, taken to the streets of Suleja in protest as they seek help in securing their loved ones’ safe release.

Mr Uthman disclosed that the police, when intimated of the development, asked them to “go and be praying.”

Speaking on Sunday, The state’s police spokesman, ASP Wasiu Abiodun while noting that “police don’t participate in the issue of ransom”, however assured that “we will continue to do what we can to see how we will rescue these people, as we are on their trail.”

Suleja is a satellite community located just 30 minutes from the nation’s capital Abuja.

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The cleric who has been meeting with bandits across the country gave the advice during an interview with Arise TV.

He said, “Even the press are criminals too because they are putting oil into fire. These people are listening to you. You don’t address them as criminals if you want them to succumb. Youths are ready to put down their weapons. Now, they hear you calling them criminals, how do you want them to cooperate?

“So, you have to show them that they are Nigerians, that they should not hurt children and that they should be law-abiding. This is the language we want to hear (from) the press in assisting us in getting the boys.

“When we talk to them with nice wordings, they are ready to put their weapons down, they are ready to listen to us. But when the language is about criminality, about kill them, jail them, then this is what we end up having.”

Gumi also drew parallels with the recent re-emergence of Niger-Delta militants who have threatened to destabilize the nation if their grievances are not immediately addressed.

“You can see the Niger Delta people have already started coming out too to threaten the nation. So, it’s a nationwide problem we have with the youths taking weapon because it gives them a false sense of authority, importance,” he said.

The cleric said the bandits should be listened to, adding that “the language of criminality should be struck out.”

When asked if he believes anybody that kills, rapes, kidnaps and robs people is a criminal, Gumi said “he’s a criminal.”

“But let me show you one thing. If you are stopped by armed robbers on the road, this word criminal, you will not use it on them. You will tell them good things, obey them so that you will save yourself,” he added.

Armed gangs have sprung up across Nigeria in recent times. They engage in armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of criminality.

Lastweek, while speaking on the recent abduction of students from Government Science College (GSC) Kagara, Rafi LGA of Niger state, Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed said: ‘After the war, people still sit to dialogue. So if some people have taken it upon themselves to visit these people so that they can embrace peace, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that’.

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The governor stated this on Thursday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He argued that most of the bandits take up arms due to the injustice meted on them by some members of society.

In recent times, criminal gangs known as bandits have sprung up across the country, mostly in northern Nigeria. They engage in extortion, kidnap for ransom and highway armed robbery.

Hundreds of persons have been killed or kidnapped by the bandits in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Niger, Kaduna and Nasarawa states being the hardest hit.

While explaining the reasons for the rising insecurity across the country, Mr Matawalle alleged that those saddled with the responsibility of protecting the community sometimes rustle their cattle and destroy their livelihood.

He said since they have nobody to speak to, they resort to violence.

“Not all of them are criminals. If you investigate what is happening, and what made them take the laws into their hands, some of them, sometimes were cheated by so-called the vigilante group.

They (security agents) normally go to their settlements and destroy property and take their animals. They did not have anyone to speak with, so sometimes, they go for revenge. When the vigilante group attacks them, they go for reprisals. That is exactly what happened,” the governor said.

He also indited the military, whom he said contribute to the problems in the villages.

“Some of them are living in settlements close to villages or towns. When there are military operations, the military will go and destroy their property and animals. They are angry with such actions sometimes. If you are talking to them, you can understand where they are coming from and their problems,” Mr Matawalle said.

“It is important for us as leaders to sit down with them and understand what is the genesis. You can’t just conclude that this person is a criminal. You have to listen to him. What led him to go into such activities?

“It is not all Fulanis that are criminals. Some are good citizens, but due to some circumstances, they subscribed to such criminality but when we had the information, we called their leaders and sat with them, they told us their grudges and we sorted out the way the communities and the Fulanis can resolve their issues without any serious crisis.”

He said he believes the problem will be put to an end if governors can follow in his footsteps.

“In my state, I am constructing RUGA for them, like a settlement that can contain some of them because sincerely speaking, if we allow them going around from one place to another, we cannot find a solution to this issue.

“So the only thing the governors should do and we are discussing that is to contain them in one place. Like a Fulani from Zamfara should not migrate to another neighbouring state. How are we going to do that? This is something that needs a lot of resources because you will have to create something that can engage them.

“You have to provide social amenities for them. Like the RUGA that we are doing, we have many amenities like school, hospital, veterinary clinic, market and even mini stadium.

“If we allow them to migrate from one place to another, that is where the problem is. I believe that very soon, the Nigeria Governors Forum will discuss that so that we can be able to know what action all the governors should take to contain them in one place,” the governor stated.

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The incident occurred on Thursday night in the Gora Gan community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of the State.

Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, explained in a statement that the gunmen during the attack burnt down at least 13 houses and two shops belonging to the residents of the community.

He disclosed that Troops of Operation Safe Haven were able to repel the attackers and stabilized the general area and thereafter retrieved seven dead bodies while one person was badly injured in the attack.

The commissioner stated that security agents including Troops of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), Special Forces of the Defence Headquarters, and police personnel are trailing the attackers with a view to arresting them.

Meanwhile, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has condemned the killing of innocent citizens as barbaric and inhuman.

In a condolence message to the families that lost their loved ones in the attack, the Governor directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to take inventory of the damages incurred and provide relief materials to the victims with immediate effect.

Nigeria’s security situation is getting worse day by day, on Thursday, the United States warned its citizens not to travel to the country owing o deteriorating security.

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