A total of 344 kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys have been handed over to government security forces, Katsina state Governor Aminu Bello Masari has confirmed.
More than 800 students were at the Government Science Secondary School, in the northwestern town of Kankara, when it was attacked by armed men on December 11. Hundreds escaped but more than 300 students were reported to have been abducted. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the raid.
Masari said most, if not all, the boys had been freed in neighbouring Zamfara state. They will be medically examined and reunited with their families later on Friday, 18 December.
He added that security forces had cordoned off the area where the boys were being held and were given instructions not to shoot.
“We thank God that they took our advice and not a single shot was fired,” he said.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari took to twitter to welcome the release.
“This is a huge relief to the entire country and international community. The entire country is grateful to Governor Masari, the intelligence agencies, the military and the police force,” he tweeted.
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Retired health worker Shuaibu Kankara, whose 13-year-old son Annas Shuaibu was among the kidnapped boys, could not contain his joy at their release.
“I am so happy,” he said. “We are so grateful to the governor of Katsina and all those who worked hard to secure their release.”
The schoolboys’ release came shortly after a video started circulating online. It allegedly shows the Boko Haram Islamist militant group with some of the students who are begging security forces to leave the area.
Some media houses reported the abductors fled and abandoned the children after reaching an agreement with the government.
The abduction gripped a country already incensed by widespread insecurity, and evoked memories of Boko Haram’s 2014 kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls in the northeastern town of Chibok.
Even though Boko Haram has claimed responsibility, it is reported that the authorities and even the local people insist that the kidnapping was not done by the terrorist group. Many believe that this was the work of bandits in the area.
The locals purported that the bandits have been trying to pledge allegiance to Boko Haram for a while now.
Earlier, protesters marched in the state capital, also called Katsina, under a banner reading #BringBackOurBoys as pressure mounted on the government to improve security.
“Northern Nigeria has been abandoned at the mercy of vicious insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, rapists and an assortment of hardened criminals,” said Balarabe Ruffin of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), which focuses on the welfare of northern Nigerians.
Should Boko Haram’s involvement in the kidnapping, still disputed by some in the government, is confirmed, it would represent an expansion from the group’s typical area of operation in Nigeria’s northeast.
The government will be “working with the police and also to engage private security firms to safeguard schools” to prevent the “ugly experience of the last six days,” Masari assured.
