Security forces in Nigeria's northwest region are conducting a sweeping operation in large forests to locate and rescue nearly 300 children who were abducted from their school. The mass kidnapping took place in Kaduna state, near the nation's capital, and is one of the largest school abductions in the past decade. The victims, including over 100 children aged 12 or under, were taken by gunmen who surrounded the school in Kuriga town and marched them into a nearby forest.
The incident has raised concerns about security lapses and slow response times, with locals reporting that the security forces did not arrive at the scene until several hours after the abduction. This delay has prompted fears that the gunmen may have taken the children deeper into the forest. The lack of timely response and failure to act on intelligence have been highlighted as contributing factors to such incidents.
