KATSINA: Boko Haram claims responsibility for GSSS Kankara students’ abductions

JIHADIST group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction of hundreds of students of Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State, last Friday.

“I am Abubakar Shekau and our brothers are behind the kidnapping in Katsina,” said the leader of the group tin a voice message. The religious sect, which violent activities have been ravaging parts of the north in almost a decade, was also behind the 2014 abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Chibok.

Gunmen on motorcycles reportedly stormed the school on Friday, and after engaging security forces in a fierce gun battle, forcefully abducted an unspecified number of the students, while forcing others to flee into surrounding bushes and forest.

The military and Police said they have stepped up efforts to rescue the students but affected parents and residents of the town, said they have not seen much efforts by the security operatives.

The latest abduction has been described as a national embarrassment, especially because it happened a few hours after the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigeria Armed Forces, General Muhammadu Buhari arrived his hometown of Daura, in same Katsina State.

United Nations’ children’s agency, UNICEF, condemned the assault on the school and urged increased efforts by the government to get the students released.

Governor Aminu Bello Masari, who visited the school, said, “Soldiers are currently in the bushes fighting the bandits. We will do all we can to ensure all the abducted children are reclaimed,” he said.

“The school has a population of 839 and so far, we are yet to account for 333 students,” Masari said.

Police spokesman, Frank Mba said “additional operational and investigative assets to support the ongoing search and rescue operations in Kankara” had been deployed.