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Nigeria's Kidnapped Children

Gangs have kidnapped students and staff at gunpoint across northern Nigeria, and killed some of their victims. What do the gunmen want? And how can they be stopped?

Since December, armed gangs have seized more than a thousand students and staff from schools across northern Nigeria. Parents face extortionate demands in exchange for the freedom of their sons and daughters and many families in Africa’s most populous nation are now too afraid to send their children to class. The wave of abductions has devastating consequences for the country, which already has the highest number of children out of education anywhere in the world. For Crossing Continents, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ’s Mayeni Jones travels to the region and meets those affected in order to understand what’s fueling Nigeria’s kidnap crisis.

Producers: Naomi Scherbel-Ball in Lagos and Michael Gallagher in London
Editor: Bridget Harney

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28 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Thu 5 Aug 2021 11:00
  • Mon 9 Aug 2021 20:30

Podcast