Boko Haram Hands 344 Kidnapped Schoolboys to Nigerian Government

By Staff, Agencies

More than 300 schoolboys kidnapped in northern Nigeria have been rescued, the Katsina state governor has said.

The 344 boys, whose abduction was claimed by the terrorist Boko Haram group, were on their way back to Katsina, Aminu Masari told the state broadcaster on Thursday.

“At the moment, 344 of the students have been handed over to security agents. I think we have recovered most of the boys if not all of them,” he said.

“By tomorrow we will get them medically examined and then arrangements will be on the way to reunite them with their families.”

But it was not immediately confirmed if the group included all the boys who were taken in the raid last Friday on a rural school in Kankara. More than 800 students were at the Government Science secondary school when it was attacked last week by armed men, but hundreds escaped.

In the rescue operation, security forces cordoned off the area where the boys were being held and had been given instructions not to fire a single shot, he said.

“We had already established indirect contact to try to make sure that we secure the release of the children unharmed,” Masari said. “We thank God that they took our advice and not a single shot was fired.”

Masari said 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.”

Nigeria’s government routinely denies widespread suspicions that it has paid ransoms to kidnappers, including in the case of more than 100 schoolgirls seized in 2014 from the town of Chibok.