LAGOS, Sept 16, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - One million Nigerian children will likely
stay away from school because of the threat of violence after a series of
mass kidnappings and attacks targeting students this year, the UN said on
Wednesday.

   More than 1,000 pupils have been snatched in mass abductions for ransom by
criminal gangs in Nigeria's northwest and central states since December with
dozens still in captivity.

   The UN children's agency UNICEF said there had been 20 attacks on schools
in Nigeria this year and more than 1,400 pupils were taken and 16 had died.

   Most have been released after ransom negotiations, but only after weeks or
months in captivity, often in appalling conditions in rural camps.

   "Families and communities remain fearful of sending children back to their
classrooms due to the spate of school attacks and student abductions," UNICEF
said in a statement.

   More than 37 million Nigerian children are due to start the new school
year this month, the agency said, while an estimated one million would likely
not return.

   Some state governments have temporarily closed up schools after
kidnappings.

   Northwest and central states have long struggled with tit-for-tat violence
between nomadic herder and farmer communities who battle over land and water.

   Attacks escalated with the emergence of heavily armed criminal gangs,
known locally as bandits, who raid villages, steal cattle and kidnap for
ransom.

   Bandit gangs this year have targeted schools and colleges in Nigeria's
northwest, snatching pupils and taking them into forest hideouts while they
negotiate payments.

   Around 70 students abducted nearly a fortnight ago were freed this week in
northwest Zamfara State, where the army has started an offensive against
bandit kidnap gangs.