Nigerian official: Over 300 abducted schoolboys freed

Boko Haram rebels claim responsibility for Dec. 11 attack

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

Gov. Aminu Bello Masari made the announcement on Nigerian state TV, NTA.

More than 800 students were at the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, when it was attacked Dec. 11 by armed men. Hundreds escaped and it was believed there were more than 330 still captive.

“At the moment, 344 of the students have been released and handed over to the security operatives. I think we can say at least we have recovered most of the boys, if not all of them,” he said.

Arrangements are being made to transport them to Katsina, he said.

“The news reaching about an hour ago indicates that all of them have been recovered and they are on their way from the forest area to Katsina, Masari said, adding that they would be examined by doctors Friday and then arrangements would be made to reunite them with their families.

The government will be “working with the police and also to engage private security firms to safeguard schools” to prevent the

“ugly experience of the last six days,” he said.

The government had said it was negotiating with the attackers.

News of the release came shortly after a video was released by the jihadist rebels of Boko Haram that purportedly showed the abducted boys. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the abduction.

In the more than six-minute video seen by Associated Press journalists, the apparent captors tell one boy to repeat their demands that the government call off its search for them by troops and aircraft.

A voice can be heard telling the boy, who is clearly under duress, what to say from behind the camera. The youth says they were kidnapped by a gang directed by Boko Haram factional leader Abubakar Shekau and that some of those abducted from the Government Science Secondary School were killed.

The video circulated widely on WhatsApp and first appeared on a Nigerian news site, HumAngle, that often reports on Boko Haram.

Government officials said police, the air force and the army tracked the kidnappers to a hideout in the Zango/Paula forest. There has been an outcry in the West African nation against the government for not doing enough to stop attacks on schools, as well as villages, in the north.

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.