Muhammad Abubakar, 15, was another pupil who got away, trekking through farmland and a forest in the dark. He said he was among 72 boys who had reached safety in the village of Kaikaibise where he ended up. The bandits called us back. They told us not to run. We started to walk back to them, but as we did, we saw more people coming towards the dormitory, he told Reuters.
Loading So I and others ran again. We jumped over the fence and ran through a forest to the nearest village.
Abubakar, one of eight children, said he saw a number of boys being rounded up before they were marched out of the school, which has around 800 students. Seven of his friends are missing.
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Nigeria is sick and needs drastic healing IKIMI
On
People gather inside the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Nigeria, Saturday Dec. 12, 2020. PHOTO: AP
Says Kankara students abduction is call for decentralization of Nigeria’s security
Perez Brisibe – Ughelli
Warri based human rights lawyer, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, has described the abduction of over 300 school boys at Kankara, Katsina State, as a wake-up call on the need for Nigeria to descentrallize her security architecture.
Describing Nigeria particularly the ountry’s security structure as being “sick with an urgent need for drastic healing,” Mr. Ikimi noted that the effrontery of the gunmen to strike while President Muhammadu Buhari was on a one week private visit to the state, is a slap on the face of Nigerians and Mr. President.
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KOLA SULAIMON/AFP/Getty Images
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.
Share on Twitter I am Abubakar Shekau and our brothers are behind the kidnapping in Katsina, said the leader of the group that was also behind the 2014 abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Chibok, in a voice message.
At least 333 students are still missing since the attack late Friday on the all-boys Government Science Secondary School in northwestern Katsina state.
The attack was initially blamed on armed groups locally known as bandits , who are active in the unstable region where kidnappings for ransom are common.
The army said Monday it had located the hideout of the men, and that a military operation was underway.