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The protesters call on the Nigerian government to rescue girls abducted by the extremist group Boko Haram from a school in Chibok in 2014. Photo / AP
Hundreds of students are feared missing after gunmen attacked a boarding school in Nigeria, The Guardian reports.
Residents of the northwestern state of Katsina reported hearing gunshots at Government Science High School around 11 p.m. Friday. The attack reportedly lasted for more than an hour.
School security personnel tried to defend themselves from the attackers before police arrived, authorities said.
More than 200 students were rescued by police, but hundreds more were missing, two local residents told the Reuters news agency.
The Nigerian Army and Air Force had reportedly joined in the search for the missing students.
Chaotic scenes unfolded at the school as parents arrived and frantically searched for their children. Some students managed to escape the gunmen by climbing over the school fence and fleeing, police said.
Katsina, the home state of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, has been plagued by violent bandits attacking and abducting people for ransom.
Attacks by Islamist militants are common in the northeast of the country.
In 2014, more than 270 girls were abducted by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram from a school in the northeastern city of Chibok.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the Katsina attack.