KANKARA, Nigeria (AP) – Liberated schoolchildren from Nigeria have reunited with their happy parents after being held captive for nearly a week by armed men allied with jihadist rebels in the north-west of the country.
Relieved parents hugged their children heavily on Saturday in Kankara, where more than 340 boys were abducted from Government Science High School on the night of December 11th. Other families met their children in Ketare, about 25 miles away. More boys went to their homes further afield in Katsina state.
“When I felt our boys were released, I was full of joy and happiness because I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat,” said Murjanatu Rabiu, mother of one of the boys.
“We were crying, not knowing the state they were in,” he said. “When we saw them, we were so happy even though they came back with injuries … and very hungry.”
However, in the midst of the celebrations, many of the schoolchildren expressed concern about returning to school, saying their kidnappers threatened them with death if they returned to classes. Boko Haram jihadist rebels in Nigeria claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, saying they attacked the school because they believed Western education was not Islamic.
“Fear seized me when they said that if they ever saw us again at school, they would kill us,” said Usman, a Kankara student, Mohammad Rabiu. “I was very scared.”
The 13-year-old explained how the students were forced at gunpoint to walk several miles through the bush, without food or water. His feet were sore from the excursion through the difficult terrain. He said his feet were so painful that he could not walk and was helped by an older boy who was carrying him on his back. He said he doesn’t want to go back to school.
“The reason I won’t go back to school is because I’m thinking that if I go back to school, the bandits will kill me and then I won’t see my parents again,” Usman said. “That’s why I won’t be back again.”
After being released by their captors, the schoolchildren were moved to Katsina, the provincial capital, where they met on Friday with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. The president appeared to minimize the traumatic abduction, telling the boys that they should not be deterred in life by “this little difficulty.”
Another kidnapping of more than 80 students took place Saturday night in a nearby area, but security forces quickly rescued the students after a fierce gun battle, police announced Sunday.
The attempted kidnapping on Saturday night took place in Dandume, about 64 kilometers from Kankara, the city where the previous school kidnapping took place.