Gunmen kidnap pastor, school principal in Nigeria

Olarewaju Kola

MAIGUDURI, Nigeria (AA) - Gunmen have abducted a pastor and a school principal in two separate incidents in northeastern Nigeria, a police officer said on Thursday.

Police Commissioner Bola Longe, said the cleric identified as Pastor John Elga was abducted by gunmen, on Wednesday from his residence in Lafia town, the capital city of Nasarawa province.

"The way our men are combing the bushes, we will soon rescue Pastor John Elga from his abductors," the police chief told journalists.

He assured that the police would do everything to halt the activities of kidnappers and other criminal elements.

Also, in northwest Kaduna province, a group of 20 gunmen, stormed a school early Thursday and kidnapped the school principal Maji, a local resident told Anadolu Agency.

"About 20 gunmen stormed Government Technical Secondary School at Maraban Kajuru in Kaduna province and kidnapped the principal," Aliyu Bawa, a Kaduna resident said.

The police said they are still collating information about the incident. The kidnaping incidents have occurred just a week after, six female students were abducted in a school in the same area.

The latest wave of kidnaping in West African nation, struggling to end a decade of terrorism attacks by Boko Haram have as a shock for the government and public.

In 2014, the armed group Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls from the remote northeastern town of Chibok in the Borno state. About 100 of those schoolgirls remain missing.