Nigerian mothers fear schools after mass kidnaps

Two mothers in northern Nigeria have told the BBC how Friday’s school kidnapping is terrifying parents. 

More than 300 schoolgirls were abducted in the early hours of the morning by unidentified gunmen from a school in north-western Zamfara state.

“Most parents are withdrawing from school,” Aisha Muktar, a fashion designer with three children, told BBC OS.

She lives in Katsina state, where 300 boys were taken from their boarding school in December, and says kidnapping for ransom is widespread as the country lacks basic security.

But after that incident, at a school that was only an hour's drive away, Ms Muktar says her eight-year-old was scared. 

He kept asking what he should do if this happened to him if he went to boarding school. 

“I didn’t have an answer,” she said. 

Hawwa Dodo, who runs a food business in Katsina, agrees the frequency of the mass kidnappings is alarming.

“It’s very close to us, very close to home,” Ms Dodo said.

“I was a product of boarding school and I know how good it is, but I don’t think I can ever let my two kids go to boarding school.”

You can listen to Aisha Muktar and Hawwa Dodo on BBC OS on the World Service.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Sanusi Jangebe