From Chibok Girls to Kankara Boys: An Overview of Parameters Surrounding the Kidnapping of Kankara School Children in Katsina State, Nigeria 1987-2019

Abstract

This paper account for the history of arm conflict between the herdsmen and farmers in southern Katsina Emirate. The kidnapping of Chibok Girls in 2014 was an eye opener to the bandits associated with the kidnapping of school children across the states of Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger. Scholars generally associate the present stage of conflict between the farmers and fulani herdsmen as the root caused of the present spede of kidnapping and cattle rustling that affects the the north-western states of Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto states. The paper argues that the banditry in Katsina state especially Kankara areas in particular pre-date the present state of kidnapping in the area. Kidnapping of 344 children of Government Science Secondary School Kankara on the 11th December 2020, marked a landmark in the history of arm conflict affecting the area and other communities bordering the forest of Katsina and Zamfara States. This paper argues that the Boko Haram (BH) insurgency, environmental and other social parameters greatly contribute to the spate of kidnapping in the area.