Gunmen kidnap 140 school students in northwest Nigeria

Gunmen have kidnapped 140 students from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, a school official said yesterday, the latest in a wave of mass abductions targeting schoolchildren and students.

Heavily-armed criminal gangs often attack villages to loot, steal cattle and abduct for ransom in northwest and central Nigeria, but since the start of the year they have increasingly targeted schools and colleges.

The attackers scaled a fence to break into the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state in the early hours of yesterday, taking 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.

Kaduna state police spokesman Mohammed Jalige said: "Tactical police teams went after the kidnappers. We are still on the rescue mission."

Around 1,000 students and pupils have been abducted in different Nigerian states since December. Most have been released after negotiations with local officials, although some are still being held.