- Title: Violence mars kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls' reunion with families
- Date: 3rd March 2021
- Summary: ZAMFARA, NIGERIA (MARCH 3, 2021) (REUTERS) CARS AND BUSES DRIVING PAST AS MILITARY FIRE SHOTS IN THE AIR MAN SEEN IN DISTANCE BEING CARRIED AFTER HE SUSTAINED AN INJURY TO HIS LEG/ MILITARY VEHICLE DRIVING DOWN ROAD, SOLDIER OR POLICE FIRING IN AIR (AUDIO OF FIRING) VARIOUS OF BROKEN CAR REAR WINDOW/ GLASS ON SEATS EARLIER, BUSES CARRYING RETURNED KIDNAPPED GIRLS DRIVING IN/ GIRLS WAVING FROM CAR WINDOW GIRLS GETTING OUT OF A BUS VARIOUS OF GIRLS HUGGING IN EXCITEMENT VOICE OF REUTERS JOURNALIST ASKING SCHOOL HEAD GIRL WHO ESCAPED THE ABDUCTION HOW SHE FEELS SEEING ALL THE PEOPLE TODAY AND HER SAYING (English): ''Very, so happy" FATHERS LOOKING INTO A BUS IN SEARCH OF THEIR DAUGHTERS AS THE GIRLS FILE OUT OF THE BUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FATHER OF RELEASED GIRLS, YUSHAÚ ABDULLAHI, SAYING: ''They are three, they are three in number, I just saw the first one here, I am looking for the remaining two, see another, see another second one.''/ ABDULLAHI WALKING TO GO AND HUG HIS DAUGHTER AS HE SEES HER/ DAUGHTER CRYING ON FATHER'S SHOULDER (SOUNDBITE) (English) FATHER OF RELEASED GIRL, BASHIRU MUSA, SAYING: ''I am very happy about the success of seeing my daughter, congratulations to our governor that brought our child out, I am happy about that.'' RELEASED GIRL CRYING AS SHE LOOKS AROUND FOR HER PARENTS
- Embargoed: 17th March 2021 18:38
- Keywords: Nigeria abduction girls kidnapping reunion
- Location: ZAMFARA, NIGERIA
- City: ZAMFARA, NIGERIA
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Africa,Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
- Reuters ID: LVA001E2J5SUF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS NOTE: QUALITY AS INCOMING
Police and soldiers fired into the air in northwest Nigeria as violence broke out amid the return of 279 kidnapped schoolgirls to their families on Wednesday (March 3), a day after their release, according to two Reuters witnesses.
The kidnapping of the girls from their school in the town of Jangebe, Zamfara state, had drawn the world's attention to a remote corner of northwest Nigeria, and Wednesday was supposed to be a happy end to the children's five-day ordeal with their handover to their families.
At least three people were shot, but it was not immediately clear by whom, the Reuters witnesses said.
Chaos broke out as parents, impatient to take their children home, burst into a hall where government officials were giving lengthy speeches in front the newly-freed girls, one of the witnesses said.
The government officials fled the hall as parents began to grab their children and leave. Outside the school gates, gunshots could be heard, said the witnesses.
As the Reuters journalists exited the school building, they saw police fire tear gas upon a group of protesters outside the school, and soldiers began to shoot into the air.
Two young girls, holding hands, ducked and ran for cover. Hundreds of others also fled, streaming down a side street, a video shot by one of the journalists showed.
Elsewhere, people threw rocks at government officials' and reporters' cars, smashing the rear window of one, as vehicles sped away from the town, the Reuters witnesses said.
Boarding schools in northern Nigeria have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom by armed criminal gangs. The trend was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which kidnapped 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found.
But recent months have seen a sudden escalation of similar attacks. Friday's raid on the Government Girls Science Secondary School was the second school abduction in little over a week.
(Production: Seun Sanni, Angela Ukomadu, Nneka Chile) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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