Nigerian officials have announced that schools in Niger state will start reopening later this month, following a mass abduction in November that forced their closure as part of emergency security measures.
From 12 January, public and private schools “in safe and secure areas” will be allowed to reopen, Niger state’s education ministry said in a statement.
The decision follows security assessments and “extensive consultations” with security agencies, it added.
November’s kidnapping of more than 250 students and staff from St Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri, western Nigeria, was one of the country’s worst abductions to date.
Officials confirmed that all of the missing students and teachers had been rescued just before Christmas. It was not formally made public how the government secured their release, or whether any ransom was paid to their abductors.
For years, armed criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, have carried out killings and kidnappings across many parts of Nigeria – but reports in the north-central region have spiked recently.
Schools and places of worship have increasingly been targeted there.
The government has recently classified the criminal groups as terrorists, and while paying ransom money is illegal in Nigeria, there are claims this is often ignored.
More than 1,500 children have been abducted from the country’s schools since 2014, when 276 girls were taken during the infamous Chibok mass abduction.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS
