TheCable

A new report by SBM Intelligence, Nigeria’s geopolitical intelligence platform, says at least 1409 students have been abducted in Nigeria in the past 19 months.

In the report titled, ‘School abductions in Nigeria’, the group broke down the figures of students who have been victims of these incidents since March 2020.

Schools in Nigeria, particularly in the northern states, have been targets of bandits and Boko Haram insurgents in recent years.

TheCable had reported that gunmen — from 2014 to 2020 — abducted over 1,119 students from schools.

Another report also established that at least 821 students have been victims of school abductions in the first nine months of 2021 alone — a figure which is more than two-thirds of the overall tally of victims in the past seven years.

In addition, SBM Intelligence, in its latest report, estimated that 1,409 students have suffered abductions since “the latest school abduction epidemic which started in March 2020,” with 16 of them killed in the process.

The report also stated Kastina as the most affected state with 440 victims, followed closely by Zamfara with 419 abductees; Niger, Kaduna, and Kebbi concluding the list.

“At least 1409 students have been kidnapped from their schools in Nigeria since the first incident in the country’s latest school abduction epidemic, which started in March 2020,” the report reads.

“In the 19 incidents up until the latest kidnap in Zamfara state, 17 teachers have also been kidnapped alongside their students, and at least ₦220 million has been paid out as ransoms. Unfortunately, 16 of the victims have died in these incidents.”