Nigerian official says over 300 abducted schoolboys freed

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — More than 300 schoolboys abducted last week by armed men in northwest Nigeria have been released, the Katsina State governor said Thursday.

In an announcement on Nigerian state TV, NTA, Gov. Aminu Bello Masari said the 344 boarding school students were turned over to security officials and were being brought to the capital of Katsina, where they will get physical examinations before being reunited with their families.

"I think we can say ... we have recovered most of the boys, if not all of them," Masari said. He did not disclose if the government paid any ransom.

President Muhammadu Buhari welcomed their release, calling it "a big relief to their families, the entire country and to the international community," according to a statement from his office. Amid an outcry against the West African country's government over insecurity in the north, Buhari noted his administration's successful efforts to secure the release of previously abducted students and added that the leadership "is acutely aware of its responsibility to protect the life and property of the Nigerians."

"We have a lot of work to do, especially now that we have reopened the borders," Buhari said, noting that the Northwest region "presents a problem" that the administration "is determined to deal with."

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for last Friday's abduction of the students from the all-boys Government Science Secondary School in the Katsina State village of Kankara. The jihadist group carried out the attack because it believes Western education is un-Islamic, factional leader Abubakar Shekau said in a video earlier this week. More than 800 students were in attendance at the time of the attack. Hundreds escaped, but it was believed that more than 330 were taken.

The government had said it was negotiating with the attackers, originally described as bandits. Experts say the attack was likely carried out by local gangs, who have staged increasingly deadly assaults in northwest Nigeria this year, and could possibly have been collaborating with Boko Haram. Armed bandits have killed more than 1,100 people since the beginning of the year in the region, according to Amnesty International.