LAGOS, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) — A total of 333 students remained missing as of Sunday after the Friday night attack by gunmen on a secondary school in Katsina, a state in northwest Nigeria, according to government authorities.
Aminu Masari, the state governor updated the information when he received a delegation led by the National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno on Sunday in Katsina.
The governor told his guests that the Government Science Secondary School located in the Kankara area of the state has a population of 839 students, noting that those kidnapped cut across the state. The boarding school houses children from all parts of the state and outside the state.
“Based on the available record we have, we are still searching for 333 students through either the forest or their parents to ascertain the actual number that has been kidnapped,” said Masari.
“We are still counting because more are coming out from the forest and we are calling through the numbers of those parents that have phone numbers to find out whether or not their children have gone back home,” he added.
“We as a government are yet to be contacted by any group or person responsible for the kidnap of the students,” the governor said.
Masari had ordered the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools in the state. The governor pleaded with the people to be patient and show restraint and understanding, assuring them that the government would do every necessary thing to ensure the release of any abducted students.
He said security agencies had swung into action and were on the trail of the bandits.
Gambo Isah, police spokesperson in Katsina told Xinhua that more than 200 students who ran into the town for their safety during the attack had returned to the school on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the attack carried out by bandits, charging the security agencies to go after the attackers to ensure that no student gets missing or harmed.
The Nigerian leader, in a statement issued late on Saturday, urged the school authorities to carry out an audit of the population of the students following shootings in and around the school that sent hundreds of them fleeing and scrambling over perimeter walls.
He also advised parents who rushed to evacuate their children and wards from the school to notify the school and police authorities to have a full account of the school population. President Buhari pledged to continue to support the police and military in their struggle against terrorists and bandits. Enditem
香港中通社12月14日电 尼日利亚西北部卡齐纳州州长阿米努·马萨里当地时间13日表示，该州一所寄宿中学日前遭身份不明的武装分子袭击，有333名学生失踪。
据央视新闻消息，马萨里称，袭击事件发生在11日晚，遇袭中学共有839名学生。
现场消息指，该校老师说，身份不明的武装分子在晚上9时半的预习课开始后不久发动了袭击。武装分子在空中零星射击，引起骚动和踩踏，然后翻过篱笆，打破了学校大门。
袭击发生后，一度有600名学生失踪，后来部分逃跑的学生返回学校。
目前失踪的学生中，一部分人遭武装分子绑架，一部分人逃跑后不知去向。
截至目前，尚无任何组织承认发动袭击。卡齐纳州警察总署发言人甘博·伊萨表示，一名警察在与匪徒交战时受伤。该州所有寄宿学校已经关闭，警方正在追捕武装分子。
尼日利亚总统布哈里12日发表声明，谴责这次袭击，幷指示尼日利亚安全部门追击袭击者及确保学生安全。
据悉，尼日利亚近年来学生绑架事件频生，大多为极端组织“博科圣地”所为。该组织所发动的最恶劣事件为2014年4月14日，博科圣地组织武装人员在尼日利亚东北部博尔诺州奇博克当地学校宿舍绑架了276名女生，其中50多名逃脱，100多人先后获释，目前仍有大约100名女孩下落不明。
