Six Out of 136 Abducted Islamic Students Die in North-Central Nigeria

Six of the 136 students kidnapped from an Islamic school in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger have died of illness, the school principal told Reuters on Monday. 

The abductors have demanded a ransom to release the students, kidnapped in May after an armed gang on motorcycles attacked the school in the town of Tegina.  Criminal gangs carrying out kidnappings for ransom are blamed for a series of raids on boarding schools in northern Nigeria in which more than 1,000 students have been abducted since December.  The principal, Abubakar Garba Alhasan, said the kidnappers had called to say the children died from sickness and to urge that the ransom demand be met.