Nigeria rescues schoolchildren, teachers abducted in Oyo, presidency says

LAGOS, July 10 (Reuters) – At least 39 schoolchildren and six teachers kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria’s southwestern Oyo state nearly two months ago have been rescued by security forces, a presidential spokesperson said on Friday.

• The students and teachers were abducted on May 15 when armed men targeted multiple schools in Oyo’s Oriire district.

• Oyo officials had said one of the abducted teachers was killed in captivity.

• In a statement, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said eight kidnappers were arrested and are in custody.

• The statement quoted President Bola Tinubu saying his government “will get justice for these children and their teachers” and the family of the teacher “who the terrorists gruesomely murdered.”

• Mass kidnappings by armed groups have become a major security challenge in Nigeria in recent years, with criminal gangs exploiting weak security and porous borders to target travelers, students and rural communities for cash and in-kind payments.

• Schools are often targeted, although such attacks are less frequent in the southwest of the country.

(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Deepa Babington)