Nigeria: Fifteen children kidnapped from Sokoto school just two days after nearly 300 students taken hostage
Fifteen children were kidnapped from a school in Nigeria, almost two days after around 300 students were taken hostage.
Gunmen invaded the Gidan Bakuso village in Sokoto state at about 1am (12am UK time) on Saturday, police spokesman Ahmad Rufa’i said.
The gang seized the children from their hostel before security forces could arrive, and also abducted one woman from the village.
Mr Rufa’i said that a police tactical squad was deployed to search for the students, but added that inaccessible roads in the area have hindered the rescue mission.
“It is a remote village (and) vehicles cannot go there,” he said. “They (the police squad) had to use motorcycles to the village.”
School owner Liman Abubakar Bakuso told Reuters that the gunmen sporadically fired shots while in the village and that students ran for cover in panic.
“They succeeded in abducting 15 of my students, the oldest being 20 and 15, but all the others are below 13,” he said.
“We are in a state of panic and have been praying hard for their safe release.”
Police spokesman Ahmad Rufa’i said a tactical squad was deployed to search for the students. Pic: AP / Sunday Alamba
It is the third mass abduction in the West African nation in less than a week, after at least 287 school pupils were taken by gunmen attacking a school.
Locals told reporters that gunmen surrounded the school in Kuriga town around 8am local time on Thursday, just as classes were about to start.
“We will ensure that every child will come back,” Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna state, told villagers on Thursday. “We are working with the security agencies.”
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Nigerian gunmen abduct 287 students
On 6 March, a group suspected to be Islamist insurgents abducted 50 people, mostly women, in the remote Gamboru area – on the border with Chad and Cameroon.
No group claimed responsibility for any of the abductions.
On Saturday, Nigeria’s vice president Kashim Shettima met with some parents of the abducted Kuriga students, and assured them of efforts to find and rescue the children.
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A women prays for the kidnapped LEA Primary and Secondary School students in Kuriga, Kaduna state. Pic: AP
The latest kidnapping also comes a decade after members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram abducted 276 female students in a night-time attack.
According to Amnesty International, more than 90 of the kidnapped students are still missing after being taken from a government secondary school in the Borno state town of Chibokare.
Some 1,500 students have been kidnapped in raids since 2014. In recent years, the abductions have been concentrated in northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for huge ransoms.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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