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Attacks and kidnappings have spiked in recent months, especially
in north-central and northwest Nigeria, partly driven by
economic hardship linked to disruption caused by the COVID-19
pandemic, and by the impunity enjoyed by most perpetrators.
"The security architecture of the Nigerian Defence Academy was
compromised early this morning by unknown gunmen who gained
access into the residential area within the Academy in Afaka,"
said the academy's spokesman, Major Bashir Muhd Jajira.
"During the unfortunate incident, we lost two personnel and one
was abducted," he said in a statement, adding that various army
units and security agencies were pursuing the attackers and
trying to rescue the kidnap victim.
Kaduna State, located north of the federal capital Abuja, has
been the scene of mass abductions at schools and other acts of
violence against communities, along with other states such as
Niger, Zamfara and Katsina.
The Nigerian government says it is winning the battle against
the criminals it describes as bandits.
However, many Nigerians have stopped travelling through rural
areas for fear of being abducted, many pupils have dropped out
of school, and many parents are driven to desperate measures to
raise ransoms to have their kidnapped children freed.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh and Ardo Hazzad, writing by Estelle
Shirbon, editing by Giles Elgood)
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