Abuja [Nigeria], July 12: Nigeria's military rescued 46 children who were abducted by Islamist militants around two months ago, a government spokesman said on Friday.
The children were kidnapped from three schools in the town of Orire in Oyo state in south-western Nigeria.
Several militants were killed and eight others arrested during the rescue operation, the spokesman said. The kidnappers shot dead one person during the raid on the schools.
Days later, they killed one of the teachers they had abducted. Mass kidnappings, including of schoolchildren, are common in Nigeria. The perpetrators are typically jihadist groups such as Boko Haram or other armed gangs. The abduction in Orire was the first mass kidnapping in the predominantly Christian south of the country. The most notorious case occurred in April 2014, when Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok. Many have since been freed or managed to escape, but around 90 are still missing. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune