140 School Students Kidnapped in Nigeria

Gunmen kidnapped 140 students from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria on Monday.

"The kidnappers took away 140 students, only 25 students escaped. We still have no idea where the students were taken," Emmanuel Paul, a teacher at the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state where the kidnapping happened, said.

Gunmen scaled a fence to break into the school in the early hours of Monday morning, kidnapping most of the 165 pupils boarding there.

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

This attack is believed to be the fourth large-scale school kidnapping in Kaduna state since December.

Authorities have attributed previous kidnappings to bandits seeking ransom payments.

Criminal gangs often loot villages, steal cattle and carry out abductions for ransom in northwest and central Nigeria.

Nevertheless, since the start of the year, bandits have increasingly targeted schools and colleges.

Meanwhile, it is estimated more than 800 students have been abducted since December in northern Nigeria. In addition, at least 150 remain missing.