Unknown gunmen have kidnapped at least 280 pupils during a raid on a school in northwest Nigeria.
Mass kidnappings for ransom are widespread in Africa's most populous country, where criminal gangs have targeted schools and institutions, particularly in the northwest. However, these incidents have recently decreased.
Local government officials in Kaduna State acknowledged the kidnapping attack on Kuriga School on Thursday. However, they did not provide numbers because they were still determining how many children had been kidnapped.
Sani Abdullahi, a teacher at the GSS Kuriga school in the Chikun district, said Thursday night that the staff escaped with many pupils while the attackers fired in the air.
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"We then began working to determine the actual figure of those kidnapped," he informed local officials who visited the school.
"In GSS Kuriga, 187 children are missing while in the primary school, 125 children were missing but 25 returned."
Muhammad Adam, a local, told AFP that more than 280 people had been kidnapped. We initially assumed the amount was 200, but after thorough counting, we learned that the number of stolen youngsters is somewhat higher than 280."
"As of this moment we have not been able to know the number of children or students that have been kidnapped," Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani told reporters at the site on Thursday.
"No child will be left behind."
This attack comes years after over 200 girls were abducted from a school in Chibok.
