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“We don’t hear any concrete demands, but we will make sure the children just go home,” he said. “All areas have been secured, but the security forces here are not firing because we want to make sure that … we don’t receive any collateral damage.”
Local police said that a large number of attackers riding motorcycles ambushed last week at the Government Science High School for children in Kankara, Katsina state. The attack may have been an attempted kidnapping for ransom, they said.
Various estimates have been made of the number of children abducted from school. Government officials said the numbers were difficult to accurately track, as some children fled during the attack and others escaped and returned to villages and school over the weekend.
“U.S [the government] they are ultimately responsible, “Masari said.
A man claiming to be a Boko Haram leader said on Tuesday that the terror group was responsible for the kidnapping, according to a short audio message shared with Nigerian media and reviewed by CNN.
“I am Abubakar Shekau and our brothers are behind the kidnapping in Katsina,” said the man on the recording. Shekau is the leader of one of the Boko Haram factions.
Masari did not dismiss the voice memo entirely, but cautioned that “more concrete evidence” was needed before it could be confirmed that Boko Haram was involved.
The kidnappers have yet to make a direct claim, but a son of a teacher who was among the kidnapped contacted his father. He only complained that the air force was flying overhead and mentioned that they might need money.
When asked if he would pay a ransom, Masari said that it is not “the policy of our government” to do so.
“We will find other ways to ensure the life and freedom of children,” he added.
The kidnapping is outside of Boko Haram’s normal area of activity. In general, its operations have been focused on the northeast of the country, although security analysts believe that its scope has changed after a security crackdown in that region.
There have been multiple ransom kidnappings in Katsina state in recent years, but not on this scale.
Several witnesses told CNN that those who attacked the school were Fulani gunmen, an ethnic group that has been involved in kidnappings and criminal activities in the area.
The Shekau faction of Boko Haram was behind the 2014 kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolchildren in Chibok. Their captivity lasted for years and many of the children were never returned after negotiated release.
In 2018, a separatist faction of Boko Haram known as ISWAP kidnapped more than 100 girls in Dapchi. All but one were released weeks later, following negotiations.
While these are the most prominent examples, Boko Haram has abducted more than 1,000 children since 2013, according to UNICEF.
“Now we are responsible and we will live up to our responsibility to make sure and make sure that we do the best we can to safeguard the lives of our people and now [the] The priority is to ensure that these children return safely to their families and return to school, “Masari said.
CNN’s Caroline Paterson contributed to this report.
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