Relatives await news of abducted Nigeria students

With dozens of Nigerian school students still missing after their kidnapping, the students' parents and head of the school in Tegina pleaded for help on Tuesday to rescue the children.

Relatives of the children gathered outside the Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Tegina waiting for news and asking the authorities to do more to bring their kids back.

About 150 students were abducted on Sunday, according to Mallam Abubakar Gimi, director of the school located in the government area of Rafi, Niger's state.

Gimi said the kidnappers made contact with him through one of the abducted students who is related to him.

The bandits, he said, demanded money to release the children and threatened to kill them.

Through tears, Gimi complained about the reaction from authorities.

"The government has not made any effort and no government officials have visited or called to check on the matter, even the commission of the police only sent a representative who came and discredited our claims saying we only wanted to obtain money from the government," he said.

Police confirmed that a large number of students were abducted, and one person was killed, but did not release exact numbers.

Wasiu Abiodun, the Niger state police spokesman, said the abduction was carried out by "armed bandits on board motorcycles in their numbers."

The gunmen fired "indiscriminately and abducted a yet to be ascertained number of children," he said, adding that the gunmen shot one person dead in the process.

Authorities said that "tactical teams" have been mobilised to rescue the students.

"Honestly, I will say that we don't have a government, because even before this incident happened you heard people shouting that they were coming, then when it happened, and you go to the police station, no action is taken," said Rabiu Garkuwa, the father of two abducted boys as he waited for news outside the school.

The incident is the latest in a series of mass abductions in Nigerian schools by armed gangs who collect money for ransom.

Armed groups have carried out raids on schools in northern Nigeria, kidnapping hundreds of students since December.

The worst case this year occurred at the Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe in February, when 279 girls were abducted and later released.

Many schools have been forced to close due to the frequent kidnappings.

On Saturday, 14 university students and staff who had been abducted from Greenfield University in Kaduna state on April 20 were released after spending more than a month in captivity.

(Image Credit: AP)