Boko Haram claims abduction of 330 students in northern Nigeria
Parents of the missing Government Science Secondary School students wait for news in Kankara, Nigeria, on Tuesday. Rebels from the Boko Haram extremist group claimed responsibility for abducting hundreds of boys from the school.
(Sunday Alamba / Associated Press)
LAGOS, Nigeria
Rebels from the Boko Haram extremist group claimed responsibility Tuesday for abducting hundreds of boys from a school in Nigeria’s northern Katsina state last week in one of the largest such attacks in years, raising fears of a growing wave of violence in the region.
More than 330 students remain missing from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara after gunmen with assault rifles attacked their school Friday night, although scores of others managed to escape.
A file photo of Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle.
The Zamfara State government has ordered the immediate closure of some Boarding and Day Schools in the state.
Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, who is the Commissioner for Education, made the announcement while briefing reporters in Gusau, the state capital.
He explained that the affected schools were those that share borders with Katsina, Kaduna, and Sokoto States.
The commissioner noted that the three states were prone to banditry, saying that the decision was important to forestall any form of attack on the schools.
He added that the action was necessary considering the security situation in the country and to prevent what happened at the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State.
Teachers threaten to stop work over abduction of students, teachers in schools Teachers threaten to stop work over abduction of students, teachers in schools
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THE National leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has said it is highly disturbed by the re-emerging incidence of school invasion and abduction of teachers and students across the country’s educational institutions, threatening to down tools if decisive actions are not taken to address the trend.
NUT Secretary-General, Dr Mike Ike Ene, while reacting to the invasion of Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State, by armed men in a statement on Tuesday, called on the Federal Government to ensure safe release of the students and teachers held in captivity.
Hundreds of Nigerian students missing after attack on school
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) Hundreds of Nigerian students are missing after gunmen attacked a secondary school in the country’s northwestern Katsina state, police said, while the president said the military was in gunfights with bandits in a forest as it tried to find the students.
The Government Science Secondary School in Kankara was attacked Friday night by a large group of bandits who shot “with AK-47 rifles,” Katsina State police spokesman Gambo Isah said in a statement.
Police engaged the attackers “in a gunfight that gave (some of) the students the opportunity to scale the fence of the school and run for safety,” Isah said.
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