Attackers kidnap 140 pupils from Nigerian boarding school

Gunmen have kidnapped 140 children from a boarding school in north-western Nigeria, a school official has said, in the latest in a wave of mass abductions targeting school children and students .heavily armed criminal gangs in north-west and central Nigeria often attack villages to loot, steal cattle and abduct people for ransom, but since the start of the year have increasingly targeted schools and colleges.

The attackers opened fire and overpowered security guards after storming the Bethel Baptist high school in Kaduna state in the early hours of Monday, abducting most of the 165 pupils boarding there overnight.

“The kidnappers took away 140 students, only 25 students escaped. We still have no idea where the students were taken,” said Emmanuel Paul, a teacher at the school.

Parents and local people waited for news of the missing children outside the school, which hosts 185 pupils during the day.

The Kaduna state police spokesperson, Muhammed Jalige, confirmed the attack but could not give details on the number of pupils taken.

“Tactical police teams went after the kidnappers,” he said. “We are still on the rescue