Authorities in Nigeria’s Zamfara state have declared a curfew and closed markets after violence joked hundreds of abducted schoolgirls to their families, a state spokesman said on Thursday.
Late on Wednesday, shots and chaos erupted during what should have been the happy return of 279 schoolgirls abducted by armed men from their boarding school last week. The government secured the release of the girls on Tuesday, but they had undergone medical check-ups and treatment. At least three people were shot, but it was not clear by whom.
A Reuters witness saw police firing tear gas at a group of protesters outside the school and soldiers fired into the air after impatient parents broke in and grabbed their children to take them home. Zamfara State Spokesman Sulaiman Tunau Anka called it “unfortunate civil disobedience” and said the governor had introduced a twilight to dawn in the city of Jangebe to prevent a further breach of the peace.
Anka also said that the marketing activities would be suspended for the time being, as the authorities had revealed “strong evidence” that these activities had helped and given bandits. He did not elaborate.
“The state government is ready to guarantee the lives and property of its citizens at all costs,” said Anka. Earlier this week, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a massive military deployment to Zamfara, banned mining and introduced a state air travel.
The abduction of Jangebe was the third kidnapping of a mass school in northern Nigeria since December. The kidnappings for ransom are the latest manifestation of years of partying banditry that have made large parts of northwestern Nigeria lawless.
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