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Nigerian army rescues 7 children and 2 women abducted from an orphanage last month

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian troops rescued seven children and two women abducted by gunmen at an orphanage last month in a north-central region, the army said in a statement released Thursday.

Authorities in Nigeria’s Kogi state said that gunmen attacked an Islamic orphanage that was operating illegally and abducted 23 pupils in an “isolated area” of Lokoja, capital of Kogi State, on April 26. Fifteen of those abducted were immediately rescued.

The troops intercepted and recovered nine of those abducted within a forest area in the state, army spokesman Hassan Abdullahi said in the statement, which was dated Wednesday but released on Thursday.

“The rescued victims comprised five boys, two girls, and two adult females, believed to be the wives of the proprietor of the orphanage,” Abdullahi said.

The development would mean that there could be one more pupil missing, but the statement didn’t mention if anybody else was unaccounted for.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Armed groups attack schools and abduct students because they are seen as strategic in drawing attention and exacting huge ransoms, according to analysts. Several hundred students have been kidnapped across Nigeria.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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