Kidnapping Rampant in Nigeria (by Cody Smith '23)

Cody Smith '23
Recently, Nigeria has been growing into more of a hub for kidnappings. On Friday 26th of February, 279 schoolgirls were kidnapped from their school, according to BBC News.
This is becoming more common as there have been kidnappings in February and December. The kidnapping in December happened when 300 schoolboys were taken from their school and freed later that month.  
 
Thankfully, the 279 schoolgirls were released on Tuesday the 2nd. They were left unharmed except for sores on their feet from the walking. The children told reporters that they were forced to walk for long periods of time and were threatened that if they stopped walking, they would be shot. They also said that they were treated fine other than that. However, they were not given places to sleep and were forced to walk barefoot.  
 
While the Nigerian government denies it, most press and other governments believe that a ransom had been paid for the schoolgirls. Ransoms have been paid in the past for other instances of kidnapping and are becoming more dangerous to do. These kidnappers are now making more money and may start going after even larger targets.  
 
All of the kidnappings have been from government-run schools, and the parents of children who go to these schools are furious. They are demanding that the schools become better protected. This forced President Muhammadu Buhari to ask the governors who run these schools to make safer schools and reconsider paying ransoms.  
 
In the future, kidnapping will become even more common and will force the Nigerian government to go after these people. If they keep paying ransoms, it will become more difficult to stop these kidnappers in the past. 

    • Photo: Auwalu Daudawa (with mic), the mastermind of the schoolboy kidnapping plot (BBC News)

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