EIGHT STUDENTS have been abducted in northwest Nigeria, local authorities have said. 

The students all attended the Awon Government Secondary School in Kaduna state, however, it is unclear where the exact location the students were taken from by the gunmen on Monday.

The latest attack comes after a spate of violent abductions involving motorists, villagers and schoolchildren where armed gangs hold helpless victims for ransom. 

In the wake of the abduction, it remains unknown where the kidnapers have taken the students.

Samuel Aruwan, the commissioner for internal security in Kaduna, said: “The Kaduna state government has received preliminary reports from security agencies on the kidnapping of about 10 students in Kachia

“The exact location of the incident is yet to be ascertained but detailed reports being awaited will clarify whether the incident occurred within the school premises or elsewhere.”

He added: “The management of the school has submitted the names and classes of the kidnapped students.”

Students being abducted from schools in Nigeria has been a growing concern for authorities and had resulted in mounting pressure on the government to crackdown on the issues. 

In 2014, the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram abducted 200 schoolgirls sparking international outrage. 

According to a 2021 and 2020 United Nations report, more than 1,000 students were kidnapped from schools in the northwest and north central region in Nigeria.

The gunmen, also commonly known as bandits, are understood to be mainly of Fulani ethnic origin and consist of Muslim semi-nomadic herders.