Gunmen with guns attacked a boys’ school in the city of Kankara.
LONDON and MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Hundreds of students are still missing after gunmen attacked a boys’ boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, authorities said.
According to a statement by Katsina State Police Command spokesman Gambo Isah of Katsina State Police Command, a group of “bandits” stormed the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State, with guns, on Friday evening.
Police officers engaged the attackers in a shootout that gave some students “the opportunity to run over the fence of the school and run for safety,” Isah said in a statement Saturday. Since then, more than 200 students have been found, but about 400 others are missing, says Isah.
However, after meeting with security officials on Sunday, Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari said a total of 839 students are enrolled in the Government Science Secondary School and the number of those missing is still 333. many others fled during the attack and have yet to be found.
According to Masari, no group or person has so far claimed responsibility for the attack or kidnappings.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the attack and urged school officials to audit the student population to determine the exact number of missing and found persons.
“Our prayers are with the families of the students, the school authorities and the injured,” Buhari said in a statement Saturday.
According to a statement by Buhari’s spokesman Garba Shehu, the Nigerian army found the enclave of the attackers in the nearby Zango-Paula forest, and there was gunfire during an ongoing police operation. No student casualties have been reported, Shehu said.
It is unclear whether any students have already been rescued.
Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for the Nigerian military, did not respond to questions from ABC News about whether the military will seek help from US forces for the rescue operation.
Parents have gathered at Government Science Secondary School in recent days, begging officials to find their children and expressing anger at the changing numbers.
Malam Nasiru Ahmed, whose son is one of the still missing students, said one of the fears is that if the authorities don’t save the kidnapped children, the attackers will kill them or turn them into child soldiers.
“Our fears are growing every day,” Ahmed recently told reporters.
It is the latest attack on a school in the West African country. One of the most famous attacks occurred in April 2014 when members of the Boko Haram militant group abducted 276 girls from their dormitory at a boarding school in Chibok, a town in the northeastern Borno state of Nigeria. Some girls managed to escape on their own, while others were later rescued or released after negotiations. But the fate of dozens remains unknown.