KANKARA, Nigeria (AP) – Liberated schoolchildren from Nigeria have reunited with their happy parents after being held captive for nearly a week by gunmen allied with jihadist rebels in the country’s northwest.
Relieved parents hugged their sons on Saturday in Kankara, where more than 340 boys were abducted from the Science High School on the night of December 11th. Other families met their sons in Ketare, about 25 miles away. Several boys went to their more distant homes in Katsina State.
“When I heard that our boys had been released, I was full of joy and happiness because I could not sleep, I could not eat,” said Murjanatu Rabiu, the mother of one of the boys.
“I was crying, not knowing their condition,” she 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 holidays, many schoolchildren expressed concern about returning to school, saying their captors had threatened to kill them if they returned to school. Nigeria’s jihadist rebels, Boko Haram, have claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, saying they attacked the school because they believe Western education is not Islamic.
“I was frightened when they told me if they would ever see us again at school, that they would kill us,” said Kankara liberator Usman Mohammad Rabiu. “I was really scared.”
The 13-year-old boy told how the students were forced with their weapons to travel a few miles through the bush, without food or water. His legs were injured from hiking on rough terrain. He said his legs 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 did not want to go back to school.
“The reason I’m not going back to school is because I think that if I go back to school, the bandits will kill me and then I won’t see my parents,” Usman said. “That’s why I’m not coming back.”
After being released by their captors, the students were transported by bus 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 discouraged in life by “this little difficulty”.
Another abduction of more than 80 students took place on Saturday night in a nearby area, but students were quickly rescued by security forces after a fierce battle, police said on Sunday.
The attempted kidnapping on Saturday night took place in Dandume, about 64 kilometers from Kankara, the city where the previous kidnapping of schoolchildren took place.