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Nigeria police detain 3 suspects in a rare school attack in the south of the country

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Three gunmen who allegedly stormed into two primary schools in a rare attack in southwestern Nigeria were taken into custody, police said Saturday.

Authorities were still assessing the number of schoolchildren that might have been abducted, police spokesperson Ayanlade Olayinka told The Associated Press.

Gunmen attacked two primary schools in the Oriire area of Oyo state, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) from Lagos, in the early hours of Friday. The suspects, who were identified by the community, were arrested, Olayinka said.

Police didn’t say if they were searching for more suspects.

School attacks usually occur in the northern region where most armed groups operate. The attack happened hours apart from another assault, in which suspected jihadi militants attacked a secondary school in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state on Friday.

Abduction of schoolchildren is common in Nigeria, where the government is battling several armed groups across the country. Analysts say the armed groups, including Islamic militant group Boko Haram, often target schools for high ransoms, as they tend to gain the government’s attention.

Last year, two mass abductions from schools rocked the West African nation, with more than 300 children taken in the conflict-battered northern region.

Ohio State trustees OK $100M settlement with hundreds of former students abused by doctor

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University agreed Wednesday to pay approximately $100 million to settle legal claims from hundreds of former student athletes who said they were sexually abused decades ago by a doctor at the university. The school has fought lawsuits in federal court since 2018 brought by former student athletes against the university over its failure to stop abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss. Strauss worked at the school from 1978 to 1998 and also ran an off-campus clinic. He died in 2005. During a meeting Wednesday, the school's Board of Trustees approved a preliminary agreement with all but one of the 280 survivors with claims still involved in pending litigation. Once finalized, the settlement could mark the end of a lengthy legal battle and close a painful chapter in the school's history. “The survivors of the Strauss abuse are all Buckeyes, will always be a part of our family and our community, and I firmly believe that,” the school's president, Ravi Bellamkonda, said during the meeting. “We continue to be very grateful to them for their courage in coming forward, and reaching a final resolution is very important to us and is an important step forward.”
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