VOA慢速英语2021 尼日利亚被绑架的279名女孩获释

Hundreds of Nigerian girls who were kidnapped last week from a school in the country's northwestern Zamfara state have been released.

上周在尼日利亚北部扎姆法拉州一所学校被绑架的数百名女孩已经获释。

The leader of Zamfara state announced the girls' release on Tuesday. There has been a series of such kidnappings in the West African nation in recent years.

扎姆法拉州领导人周二宣布了这些女孩获释的消息。近年来，这个西非国家发生了一系列此类绑架事件。

The girls, aged¹ 10 and up, gathered in Zamfara state's Government House conference room. They appeared calm, talking to one another while reporters took pictures of them. They will receive a medical examination before they are returned to their parents.

这些年龄不小于10岁的女孩聚集在扎姆法拉州政府大楼会议室。在记者给她们拍照时，她们显得很平静，还互相交谈。她们将在被送回父母身边之前接受体检。

Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle said that 279 girls had been freed after being taken from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday.

扎姆法拉州州长贝洛·马塔瓦莱表示，上周五在詹格贝镇公立女子初中被带走的279名女孩已经获释。

The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. It was not clear if the higher number was a mistake or if some girls were still missing.

政府上周称有317人被绑架。目前尚不清楚是这个数字有误，还是仍有一些女孩失踪。

"Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted² students," Matawalle said in a Twitter message early Tuesday.

马塔瓦莱周二早些时候在推特上表示：“感谢上帝！我很高兴地宣布被绑架的学生获释。”

Officials said "bandits" were behind the abduction. The officials were describing the groups of armed men who operate in Zamfara state. The men kidnap people for money or to demand the release of jailed group members.

官员们表示匪徒是绑架的幕后黑手。这些官员说的是在扎姆法拉州活动的武装组织。这些人员绑架人质是为了索取赎金或是要求释放被监禁的组织成员。

One of the freed girls described the night of the abduction to the Associated Press. "We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots," she said. "They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves."

其中一名获释的女生向美联社描述了绑架当晚的情况。她说：“我们晚上睡觉时，突然听到枪声。他们不停地开枪。我们下床了，人们说我们应该逃跑，因为他们是盗贼。”

The attackers soon found her and some classmates and held guns to their heads, she said. "I was really afraid of being shot."

她说，袭击者很快发现了她和一些同学，并用枪指着她们的头。她说，“我真的很害怕被枪杀。”

Officials ended the interview before the girl could give her name to AP reporters.

在女孩向美联社记者说出自己的名字之前，有关官员结束了这次采访。

Nigeria has had several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years. In 2014, Boko Haram members abducted 276 girls from a secondary school in Borno state. More than 100 of those girls are still missing.

近年来，尼日利亚已经发生过数次类似袭击和绑架事件。2014年，博科圣地组织成员在博尔诺州的一所中学绑架了276名女孩。这些女孩中仍然有100多人失踪。

Boko Haram is opposed to western education and its fighters often target schools. But most of the attacks that happen in the northwest are carried out by armed criminal groups.

博科圣地组织反对西方教育，其战士经常以学校为目标。但是在该国西北地区发生的大多数袭击都是武装犯罪组织实施的。

Officials did not say if money had been paid for the release of the girls.

官员们并未透露是否为这些女孩的获释支付了赎金。

"We have been in discussion since Friday with the abductors and reached agreement on Monday," the governor said. He also said that he would put in place additional security at all schools in the state.

州长表示：“周五以来我们一直在与绑架者协商，并于周一达成了协议。”他还表示将在该州的所有学校中采取额外的安全措施。

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari expressed "overwhelming joy" over the release of the girls. The president also called for a stronger effort to prevent bandits from carrying out such attacks. He warned that paying ransom³ money for the release of victims would only result in more attacks.

尼日利亚总统布哈里对这些女孩获释表达“压倒一切的喜悦。”布哈里总统还呼吁加大力度防止匪徒发动此类袭击。他警告说，为受害者获释支付赎金只会导致更多袭击。

Ernest Ereke is with the University of Abuja in Nigeria. He agreed that ransom payments let criminal groups buy more weapons and expand their power. He added that the Nigerian government increasingly looks too weak to act.

欧内斯特·埃雷克在尼日利亚阿布贾大学就职。他赞同支付赎金会让犯罪组织有能力购买更多武器并扩大其势力。他还表示，尼日利亚政府看上去越来越软弱无法采取行动。

"It should be the other way around, that is, the criminals should be scared of the state," he said. "But, in this case, it is the state that is scared of criminals."

他说：“事情应该反过来，也就是犯罪分子应该害怕国家。但是在这起事件中，是州政府害怕犯罪分子。”

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。