“We do not hear a concrete demand, but we will make sure that the children are back home as usual,” he said. “All areas are secured, but the security forces here are not firing because we want to make sure … we don’t get collateral damage.”
Local police said a large number of attackers riding motorcycles ambushed the Government Science Secondary School for boys in Kankara, Katsina state, last week. The attack may have been an attempted kidnapping for ransom, they said.
There are various estimates of the number of children abducted from the school. Government officials said it was difficult to keep accurate records as some children ran away during the attack and others escaped and returned to villages and school all weekend.
“We [the government] are ultimately responsible, ” said Masari.
A man who claims to be the leader of Boko Haram said on Tuesday that the terror group was responsible for the kidnapping, according to a short audio report shared with Nigerian media and reviewed by CNN.
“I am Abubakar Shekau and our brothers are behind the kidnapping in Katsina,” said the man in the recording. Shekau is the leader of one of Boko Haram’s factions.
Masari did not completely reject the speech note, but warned that “more concrete evidence” was needed before it could be confirmed that Boko Haram was involved.
The kidnappers have not yet made any direct demands, but a child of a teacher who was among the kidnapped contacted his father. He only complained about the air force flying over and said they might need money.
When asked if he would pay a ransom, Masari said it is not “our government’s policy” to do so.
“We will find other ways to safeguard the life and freedom of the children,” he added.
The kidnapping is outside Boko Haram’s usual scope. Their operations have generally been centered in the northeast of the country, although security analysts believe their reach has shifted following a security crackdown in that region.
There have been multiple ransom kidnappings in Katsina state in recent years, but not on this scale.
Several witnesses told CNN that those targeted by the school were Fulani gunmen, an ethnic group involved in kidnappings and criminal activities in the area.
Shekau’s faction of Boko Haram was behind the 2014 kidnapping of nearly 300 school girls in Chibok. Their imprisonment lasted for years and many of the children never returned after a negotiated release.
In 2018, a breakaway faction of Boko Haram known as ISWAP kidnapped more than 100 girls in Dapchi. All but one were released weeks later, after negotiations.
While these are the most high-profile examples, Boko Haram has abducted more than 1,000 children since 2013, according to UNICEF.
“We are now accountable and will live up to our responsibility to care for and ensure that we do our best to protect the lives of our people. [the] The priority is to ensure that these children can safely return to their families and back to school, ”said Masari.
CNN’s Caroline Paterson contributed to this report.