■ Nigerians waited anxiously for news about hundreds of kidnapped schoolgirls.

JANGEBE, Nigeria — Families in Nigeria waited anxiously for news of their abducted daughters after more than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped by gunmen from a government school in the country’s north last week, the latest in a series of mass school kidnappings in the West African nation.

Worried parents on Sunday gathered at the school, guarded by police. Aliyu Ladan Jangebe said his five daughters ages 12-16 were at the school when the kidnappers stormed in. Four were taken away but one escaped by hiding in a bathroom with three other girls, he said.

“We are not in (a) good mood because when you have five children and you are able to secure (just) one. We only thank God … But we are not happy,” said Jangebe.

“We cannot imagine their situation,” he said of his missing daughters. Residents of a nearby village said the kidnappers had herded the girls through the town like animals, he said.

One resident said the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the government’s priority is to get all the hostages returned safe and unharmed. Police and the military have begun joint operations to rescue the girls, said Mohammed Shehu, a police spokesman in Zamfara state.

The girls’ abduction has caused international outrage.

Pope Francis decried the kidnapping and prayed for the girls’ quick release.

Last week, U.N. Secretary-general Antonio Guterres condemned the abductions and called for the girls’ “immediate and unconditional release” and safe return. He called attacks on schools a grave violation of human rights and the rights of children, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.