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More than 300 schoolchildren who were allegedly abducted by the militant group Boko Haram in northern Nigeria have been released, according to the governor of Katsina state.
Aminu Bello Masari said that a total of 344 students detained in a forest in the neighboring state of Zamfara were freed by their captors and handed over to security forces.
The governor said: “We have recovered most of the boys. They are not all.”
Governor Aminu Bello Masari confirmed the release of hundreds of schoolchildren
He added that the children will be medically examined and reunited with their loved ones on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, a video allegedly posted by the jihadist group claimed to show some of the students who were captured last week.
Circulating on social media, the images, with their logo, showed a group of children in the forest, pleading with security forces to leave the site.
Boko haram took over responsibility earlier this week for the kidnappings of students on December 11 at country Northwest region, which marks an expansion in the geography of the organization.
The attack on the Government Science High School, a boarding school for boys, saw gunmen armed with AK-47s storming the premises.
Hundreds of the boys were arrested and left the building.
344 of the children have been released, but others remain missing
A bag left inside the school after the site was attacked by armed men
A joint rescue mission with the Nigerian police, air force and army was launched the following day, Saturday.
Since the kidnapping, protesters have been marching in surrounding areas under a banner that reads #BringBackOurBoys, a hashtag that was trending. Twitter – Increasing pressure on officials to improve security in the region after the attack on the school.
Boko Haram is believed to have attacked the school.
Days before the release of the boys, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and called for “the immediate and unconditional release of the kidnapped children and their safe return to their families.”
Some of the youths were able to escape by jumping over the school’s fence and running for safety after police exchanged shots with the attackers.
Concerned parents will meet their children after medical exams on Friday.
Last Friday’s raid on the school, which had more than 800 students there at the time, evoked memories of the abduction of more than 270 girls in 2014 by the terrorist group Boko Haram. in the northeastern state of Borno.
Since then, only about 100 of those girls have been found or released.
Many have appeared in propaganda videos and an unknown number are believed to have died.
