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In a statement, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack and ordered that security in schools be strengthened, and urged security forces to arrest the militants.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly attack by thieves against innocent children at the Science School in Kankara,” said the Nigerian president, declaring his solidarity with the families of the students, the school administration and the injured.
Residents of the agency “Agence France Presse” reported that several students had been kidnapped and gunmen attacked Kankara High School on Friday night.
State police spokesman Issa Gambo said: “The thieves arrived on motorcycles and fired sporadically and tried to enter the school.”
The spokesman added: “The police responded to them with the help of the army and there was an exchange of fire for an hour and a half.”
He said the gunmen were forced to retreat and are being pursued, with no casualties reported, and we are still checking the number of students to see if any are missing, adding that “about 200 of them fled when the attack occurred and returned on Saturday. in the morning”.
Neighbors denounced the kidnapping of students, while local media reported on dozens of kidnapped.
“The kidnappers clashed with the security forces and in the meantime another group entered the school and kidnapped several students,” Nour Abdullah told AFP.
He continued: “Some of the students returned to the city on Saturday morning after they fled, but others returned home.”
Ibrahim Maman, who is also a resident of Logic, said: “Most of the students fled, but the thieves arrested some of them and kidnapped them, and no one knows the number of students who were abducted because a census has not been taken yet. “.
Armed gangs have been spreading terror in rural areas of central and northern Nigeria for years, stealing livestock and kidnapping for ransom.
In August, gunmen abducted a teacher and several of her students from the middle of the classroom in neighboring Kaduna state, and the hostages were later released without revealing whether a ransom was paid.
