- Only 10 boys abducted, insists Presidency
Katsina State governor, Aminu Masari, has confirmed that over 300 students are missing following an attack by gunmen on the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina.
He disclosed this when he received a Federal government delegation led by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, on Sunday, saying that 333 students are still missing.
“Based on the available records, we are still searching for 333 students through either the forest or their parents to ascertain the actual number that have been kidnapped,” the governor said.
“We are still counting because more are coming out from the forest, and we are calling those parents that have phone numbers to find out whether or not their children have gone back home.
“As a government, we are yet to be contacted by any group or person responsible for the kidnap of the students.”
Gunmen had invaded the school on Friday night, shooting into the air to scare away people in the area.
The school is said to have a population of around 800 students, and according to the police, when the gunmen attacked, some of the students scaled the fence to escape.
A spokesman of the Katsina State Police Command, Isah Gambo, had earlier said 200 students were rescued as of Saturday morning.
On Saturday evening, Garba Shehu, spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari, said the armed forces had located the hideout of the bandits in a forest.
The president, who directed security agencies to ensure the rescue of the abducted students, urged parents whose children fled home during the attack to notify the school.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has also ordered the deployment of additional forces to Katsina to assist in rescue operations.
“The deployment, which includes personnel from the Police Tactical Squads and crack detectives from the Force Intelligence Bureau, will provide investigative support to the Katsina State Police Command,” a statement by Frank Mba on Saturday, read:
“They are also to work in sync with the military and other law enforcement agents in coordinated efforts aimed at rescuing the students, hunting down the perpetrators and bringing them to book.”
But Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, disagreed with Masari, over the number of boys abducted from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
BBC Hausa Service, in a bulletin on Sunday, quoted Shehu as saying only 10 boys are with the bandits.
The BBC Hausa bulletin read: “The Government of Nigeria has said its security forces have surrounded the location where gunmen have kept schoolchildren abducted from a secondary school in Katsina State.
“Spokesman for the President, Mallam Garba Shehu told the BBC only ten children were remaining in the hands of the gunmen according to their colleagues who escaped from the gunmen.
The number is below figures released by school authorities at the beginning. Garba Shehu said the school children who escaped said 10 of their friends were still with their abductors.”