Nigerian gunmen abduct five students.

According to authorities, a group of armed individuals has forcefully taken five students hostage in the northern region of Nigeria. This incident follows closely after another occurrence where around 20 individuals were similarly abducted in a neighboring area.

According to official sources, an ongoing police operation is currently being conducted in order to locate and rescue the five female students who were abducted on Wednesday.

An individual has been apprehended.

According to a statement issued by Aliyu Abubakar Sadiq, a police spokesperson in Katsina state, five female students of the federal university were reportedly abducted by individuals believed to be terrorists at approximately 2:00 am. The incident occurred late on Wednesday.

The incident occurred within a fortnight following the abduction of over 30 individuals, including a minimum of 24 female students, by armed individuals affiliated with criminal "bandit" groups in a raid near a university situated outside Gusau, the capital city of Zamfara state.

A total of 16 hostages, comprising 13 students, have been successfully rescued by Nigerian military.

The occurrence of the raid was the initial instance of a large-scale abduction at an educational institution subsequent to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assuming office in May. This event took place within the President's commitment to addressing the prevalent issue of insecurity in Nigeria, a country that has been plagued by the recurrent targeting of schools by criminal groups engaging in kidnappings for monetary ransom.

Zamfara and Katsina are two of the states located in the northwestern and central regions of Nigeria, which have been identified as areas where criminal groups known as bandits engage in activities such as raiding villages, perpetrating acts of violence resulting in fatalities and abductions, as well as engaging in the destruction and looting of residential properties.

In recent years, there has been a notable prevalence of criminal activities including the large-scale abduction of students from educational institutions.

In the month of February in the year 2021, a group of armed individuals unlawfully entered a residential institution for female students located in the town of Jangebe, situated within the jurisdiction of Zamfara State. This criminal act resulted in the abduction of a significant number exceeding 300 pupils.

The release of the girls occurred many days subsequent to the payment of a ransom by the authorities.