The extremist group Boko Haram has claimed the abduction of at least 333 teenagers from a high school in Katsina, northwest Nigeria. More than a hundred armed men attacked on Saturday morning.
The leader of the extremist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, on Tuesday, claimed the abduction of more than three hundred students from a high school in northwest Nigeria, early on Saturday.
“I am Abubakar Shekau and our brothers organized the abduction in Katsina,” announced the leader, also responsible for the abduction of 276 girls, in Chibok, in 2014, unleashing a wave of worldwide outrage.
At least 333 teenagers are still reported missing since the high school attack in northwestern Nigeria’s Katsina state, hundreds of kilometers away from Boko Haram territory, which usually operates in the northeast of the country, around Lake Chad.
More than a hundred armed men on motorcycles attacked the rural school in the town of Kankara early on Saturday, prompting hundreds of teenagers to flee.
Initially, the abduction had been attributed to armed groups, called “bandits”, who terrorize populations in this unstable region where rescue kidnappings have become commonplace.
The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, condemned the attack and ordered increased security in all schools. In Katsina state, schools were closed.
On Monday, the army said it had located “the bandits’ lair”, adding that a military operation was underway.
Security has deteriorated sharply in northern Nigeria since Buhari’s election in 2015, which announced the fight against Boko Haram as a priority in the mandate.
