Why schoolchildren are being abducted in northern Nigeria amid the region’s security crisis

By TAIWO ADEBAYO
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The kidnapping of 287 grade school students by gunmen in northwestern Nigeria this week was only the latest in a slew of such raids since the infamous Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram a decade ago. Around 1500 students have been kidnapped in raids since 2014. The kidnappings take place in the country’s troubled northern region, where relentless violence by separatist Islamic militant organizations and by bandit groups with no particular ideology have crumbled communities and killed thousands of people. While some of the Chibok school victims were believed to have been forced into marriage with militants, most of the kidnappings since then have been for ransom.