Mass kidnappings are a standard manner for gangs and armed teams to make fast cash in Nigeria.
Revealed On 27 Apr 2026
Gunmen have raided an orphanage and kidnapped a minimum of 23 youngsters, authorities in Nigeria report.
The gang took the kids late on Sunday from an unregistered facility referred to as the Dahallukitab Group of Faculties, situated in an “remoted space” in Kogi State’s capital, Lokoja, Kogi Info Commissioner Kingsley Fanwo mentioned in an announcement on Monday.
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Mass kidnappings have turn out to be a standard manner for gangs and armed teams to make fast cash in Africa’s most populous nation, particularly in rural areas with little authorities presence.
Fanwo mentioned the “immediate and coordinated response” of safety companies led to the rescue of 15 youngsters however eight are nonetheless lacking.
The spouse of the proprietor of the orphanage was additionally kidnapped, in line with the assertion.
“Intensive operations are ongoing to safe the protected return of the remaining eight victims and apprehend the perpetrators,” the official mentioned.
The orphanage was working “illegally” in a distant location with out the information of related authorities and safety companies, Fanwo added.
The assertion didn’t disclose the ages of the kidnapped youngsters, but it surely referred to them as “pupils”, which in Nigeria normally refers to somebody in kindergarten or major college, masking ages as much as 12.
No group instantly claimed duty for the assault.
Nigeria faces a number of conflicts from long-running violence by the Boko Haram armed group to “bandit” gangs, farmer-herder violence and southeastern separatists.
The ISIL (ISIS)-linked Lakurawa group additionally operates in communities within the northwestern a part of the nation bordering Niger.
The North Central Zone of Nigeria, the place Kogi is situated, has seen violent assaults, together with raids on faculties, in current months with a number of the assaults blamed on armed teams.
Lots of of scholars have been taken by gunmen from their college in neighbouring Niger State in November in an assault safety sources blamed on Boko Haram.
