Nigerian gunmen have attacked a school in the county’s northwest region abducting at least 287 students. This marks the second mass abduction in the West African nation in less than a week.
According to locals, assailants surrounded the government-owned school in Kaduna State’s Kuriga town Thursday just as students were about to start the school day at around 8 a.m.
Authorities had said earlier that more than 100 students were taken hostage in the attack.
However, Sani Abdullahi, the school’s headteacher, told Kaduna Gov. Uba Sani when he visited the town that the total number of those missing after a headcount was 287.
“We will ensure that every child will come back. We are working with the security agencies,” the governor told villagers. It’s unclear how he plans to achieve that since previous mass abductions have not been resolved.
No group claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack though blame fell on armed groups that mostly constitute Muslim herders who have been accused of carrying out violent attacks and kidnappings for ransom over the last few decades.
As CBN News has reported for years, Islamic extremist groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State, operate freely in parts of Nigeria.
And groups like
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