Gunmen have abducted at least 287 students in an assault on schools in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kaduna, prompting security forces to launch a search and rescue operation, according to local authorities, APA reports citing Xinhua.
Kaduna Governor Uba Sani informed residents late Thursday that security forces had been deployed to Kuriga town in the Chikun local government area of the state, following the invasion of the government-owned Kuriga Primary and Secondary School earlier in the day by a group of armed assailants who abducted a significant number of students.
While the exact number of abducted people remains uncertain, Sani assured the public that the state government is collaborating with the school authorities and the local community to ascertain the precise count.
"We have received assurances of support from President Bola Tinubu and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu to ensure the safe return of the abducted students," Sani said.
According to Sani Abdullahi, the headteacher of the school who managed to escape the abduction, at least 287 students were unaccounted for following the attack on the two schools.
The gunmen encircled the premises early Thursday and compelled everyone to march into a nearby bush, Abdullahi told the governor during an on-the-spot assessment of the scene.
Mass abductions of students are not uncommon in northern Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.
While no specific armed group has claimed responsibility for this latest incident, it echoes a similar mass kidnapping that occurred about a decade ago in April 2014. Back then, more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted from their dormitories in the northeastern state of Borno by the Boko Haram terror group.
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