Nigeria: Authorities warn schools in 14 states at risk of kidnappings

The Nigerian government has identified schools in at least 14 states and the capital Abuja as vulnerable to attack following a new wave of mass kidnappings of students.

Nigeria’s National Coordinator for Safe Schools Funding, Hajia Halima Iliya, said her agency was collecting data to guide interventions.

The agency was established in 2014 after hundreds of girls were kidnapped in Chibok, northeast Borno. The agency said Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Yobe, Katsina, Abuja, Kebbi, Sokoto, Plateau and Zamfara are among the most vulnerable states.

This happened during a spate of kidnappings in Nigeria.

The wave of kidnappings in the country intensified on Saturday when more than a dozen students and four women were kidnapped from a school in Gada, Sokoto District.

Parents of abducted students called on the government to assist in their release.