Unclear if any more remained with their captors, believed to be Boko Haram extremists Published: December 18, 2020 04:09 AFP Parents wait outside the Government Science Secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Katsina State, Nigeria on December 16, 2020. Image Credit: AFP
Kankara, Nigeria: Over 300 Nigerian schoolboys were released on Thursday after being abducted in an attack claimed by Boko Haram, officials said, although it was unclear if any more remained with their captors.
The assault last Friday on a rural school in Kankara, Katsina state in northwest Nigeria, was initially blamed on criminals, known as bandits, who have terrorised the region for years.
But on Tuesday Boko Haram, the brutal extremist group behind the abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, claimed responsibility for the raid.
More than 300 abducted Nigerian schoolboys freed
18 Dec 2020 Boarding school children returns back home after government close down schools in Kankara, Katsina State, Nigeria. AFP
Security forces on Thursday rescued nearly 350 schoolboys who had been kidnapped in northwestern Nigeria and taken into a vast forest, the governor of Katsina state said, bringing relief to many families.
It was not immediately clear whether all the missing boys had been recovered.
“I think we have recovered most of the boys,” Governor Aminu Bello Masari said in a televised interview with state channel NTA.
Parents wait outside the Government Science Secondary school in Kankara, Katsina State, Nigeria. AFP
Hundreds of schoolboys kidnapped last week from a boarding school in north-western Nigeria have been released, local authorities say.
A parent waits outside the Government Science Secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Katsina State, Nigeria on 16 December.
Photo: AFP
A spokesperson for the governor of Katsina state, Abdul Labaran, said 344 had been freed and were all in a good condition.
However, other reports suggested some remain in the hands of their captors.
The attack was claimed by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which hours earlier released a video apparently showing some of the boys.
In his statement, Labaran said the boys were being taken to the regional capital Katsina City, and would soon be reunited with their families.
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Nigeria s Buhari relieved to have kidnapped schoolboys returned safely The 344 boys are currently being moved to a hospital for medical examination and further debriefing before they will be allowed to reunite with their parents. Children kidnapped by Boko Haram from the Government Science Secondary school, in Kankara, in northwestern Katsina State, Nigeria are seen returning after having been freed on 18 December 2020. Picture: AFP
105 days ago
ABUJA - Hundreds of schoolboys abducted last Friday from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, and released on Thursday night have arrived in Katsina State, the state capital.
The students were escorted into the state capital by security operatives where they were received by the Katsina state governor, Aminu Masari.