International
The kidnappers of more than 280 students and teachers in Nigeria ask for a ransom of 567,000 euros
The kidnappers of more than 280 students and teachers captured last Thursday in the center-north of Nigeria, in a town in the state of Kaduna, asked the families for a rescue of one billion nairas (about 567,000 euros), two leaders of local civil society confirmed to EFE on Wednesday.
“They have contacted us, they have asked us for a billion nairas to free the students and teachers. They threatened to kill all the captives if they do not receive the money by the end of this month,” Abdullahi Umar, a community leader in the town of Kuriga, where the events happened, told EFE by phone.
Umar stressed that it is “a huge amount of money” and that they do not know how to get it and explained that the parents of the kidnapped minors and the neighbors of the area have tried to raise the funds since the kidnappers contacted them last weekend.
“But we haven’t gathered much. We ask the Government and well-intentioned people to help us. They say that the payment of ransoms is illegal but we can’t let our children die,” Umar added.
The kidnapping, which has shocked the whole country and the international community, occurred early in the morning of March 7 at the primary school of the Local Educational Authority in Kuriga, when the attackers – about a hundred, according to EFE then a resident – surrounded a group of students and teachers and pushed them into the forest, where some managed to flee.
The request for the rescue was also confirmed to EFE by the undersecretary of the regional office of the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), Farouk Alhassan.
“It’s outrageous. We receive information that the bandits demand a billion nairas (…) The Government should try to guarantee the safe return of children and teachers,” Alhassan said.
EFE did not get a response when it tried to contact the state commissioner for Internal Security and Interior of Kaduna, Samuel Aruwan.
The Nigerian authorities have ruled out the payment of a ransom to get the release of the captives.
Speaking to the press this Wednesday in the country’s capital, Abuya, the Nigerian Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, assured that the president of the country, Bola Tinubu, “has ordered the Government not to pay any ransom to any of these criminal elements.”
“Security agencies are working day and night. These children and these people who have been kidnapped by criminals will be safe again very soon,” he said.
For his part, the human rights activist and former legislator Shehu Sani, who in the past represented the state of Kaduna in the Senate (High Chamber) of Nigeria, pointed out through the social network X that “the negotiations with the bandits who kidnapped Kaduna’s students are fine as long as they do not involve large payments.”
According to Sani, “it would have to be a negotiation where cents are not mentioned” because “this information about his ransom demands is a scandalous madness.”
Some states of Nigeria – especially in the center and northwest of the country – suffer incessant attacks by “bandits”, a term used in the country to name criminal gangs that commit assaults and mass kidnappings to ask for large ransoms.
The attacks are repeated despite the repeated promises to end the violence by the Nigerian Government, which has reinforced the deployment of security forces.
To this insecurity is added that caused since 2009 by the activity of the jihadist group Boko Haram in the northeast of the country and, from 2016, also by its splinterion, the Islamic State in the Province of West Africa (ISWAP).
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
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