Dozens of students were reportedly kidnapped from their school in northwestern Nigeria during the early morning hours on Friday.

Around 30 students were taken from Federal College Of Forestry Mechanization, which sits just outside Kaduna city. The incident marks at least the fourth kidnapping of students in the country since December.

Senator Shehu Sani lamented the latest kidnapping on Twitter.

“Our city is under siege,” he wrote.

Last week, 279 schoolgirls were freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state. Weeks before, dozens of children and staff were taken from a boarding school. In December, more than 300 boys were abducted.

It’s believed these crimes are part of a growing “kidnapping industry” in the region. Criminals kidnap vulnerable students for ransom.

When the 279 schoolgirls were released last week, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said that the Nigerian government is “working hard to bring an end to these grim and heartbreaking incidents of kidnapping.”

When they said that the Jangebe Kidnappings would be the last,it’s clear that they really underestimated the enormity and gravity of the problem.Kidnapping is now a thriving lucrative business and students are now their stocks and Goldmine.

— Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) March 12, 2021

Sani said it appears the government has “really underestimated the enormity and gravity of the problem.”

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