More than 300 kidnapped students freed in Nigeria

More than 300 Nigerian schoolboys who were held hostage by terrorists have been freed. Some are still being held by their captors. The terrorists from the extremist group Boko Haram had taken the students hostage.

In Nigeria, it was officially announced that 344 schoolboys who were taken hostage have been released, but an unknown number of students are still in the hands of the kidnappers.

The Katsina state governor said the students were being held by security forces. He confirmed that most, if not all, of the boys had been released. It was not clear how many hostages were still being held by the kidnappers.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari called the students' release "a burden on the country and the international community," in a Twitter message.

According to Nigerian government sources, the students were released in a forest following negotiations between government representatives and the kidnappers. They are scheduled to undergo medical examinations before being reunited with their families.

“Opposition to modern education”

Last Friday (December 11), more than 300 secondary school students were kidnapped in an attack on a boarding school in Katsina state in northwestern Nigeria. About 100 armed assailants on motorcycles took part in the attack. Some of the students escaped through the forests surrounding the school, but more than 300 were taken captive.

Jihadists from the armed group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the students. In a message, the leader of the extremist group said the aim of the attack on the boarding school in Katsina state was to “promote Islam” and combat “Western and un-Islamic education.”

Following the kidnapping, a spokesman for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said that the country's authorities were in contact with the attackers and were working to secure the students' release.

Boko Haram is a Sunni group with fanatical beliefs that has been fighting the central government of Nigeria since 2009 with the aim of establishing an "Islamic state."

They brutally murder anyone they consider an enemy of their beliefs. They do not shy away from looting and plundering, and in particular they kill and massacre forest workers, cattle ranchers, and fishermen, whom they accuse of collaborating with the army.

According to UN statistics, about 36,000 people have been killed and two million people have been forced to flee during Boko Haram attacks over the past ten years.

They call themselves "Boko Haram" because they consider education in non-religious schools to be forbidden and blasphemous.

Armed members of Boko Haram support the terrorist group "Islamic Caliphate" (ISIS).

Source: DW