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Nigeria Boko Haram: Schoolgirls escape militant attack | Nigeria Boko Haram: Schoolgirls escape militant attack |
(about 17 hours later) | |
Schoolgirls and teachers in north-eastern Nigeria have escaped an attack on a boarding school by Boko Haram jihadists, witnesses say. | Schoolgirls and teachers in north-eastern Nigeria have escaped an attack on a boarding school by Boko Haram jihadists, witnesses say. |
They say the militants in pick-up trucks arrived in the town of Dapchi, Yobe state, on Monday evening, shooting and setting off explosives. | They say the militants in pick-up trucks arrived in the town of Dapchi, Yobe state, on Monday evening, shooting and setting off explosives. |
Staff and students fled, while the militants looted the school for food. | |
In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 girls from a school in the north-eastern town of Chibok. | In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 girls from a school in the north-eastern town of Chibok. |
Some residents and civilian militia in Dapchi said they believed the jihadists had planned to kidnap schoolgirls in their town too, AFP news agency reports. | |
But a teacher at the school told the BBC the militants were only interested in looting, and left with food some three hours later. | |
They had also looted a shop, one resident said. | |
The jihadists came into the town, firing guns and letting off explosives, causing students and teachers to flee into the surrounding bush. | |
They say that Nigeria's security forces - backed by military jets - later repelled the attack. | They say that Nigeria's security forces - backed by military jets - later repelled the attack. |
The school has been shut, and is being guarded by troops. | |
Last September, a group of more than 100 of the Chibok girls were reunited with their families at a party in the capital, Abuja. | |
Most of the group were released in May as part of a controversial prisoner swap deal with the Nigerian government that saw five Boko Haram commanders released. | Most of the group were released in May as part of a controversial prisoner swap deal with the Nigerian government that saw five Boko Haram commanders released. |
But more than 100 schoolgirls are still being held by Boko Haram, and their whereabouts are unknown. | But more than 100 schoolgirls are still being held by Boko Haram, and their whereabouts are unknown. |
Boko Haram militants have been fighting a long insurgency in their quest for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. The conflict is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people. | Boko Haram militants have been fighting a long insurgency in their quest for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. The conflict is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people. |
The Chibok girls represent a fraction of the women captured by the militant group, which has kidnapped thousands during its eight-year insurgency in northern Nigeria. | The Chibok girls represent a fraction of the women captured by the militant group, which has kidnapped thousands during its eight-year insurgency in northern Nigeria. |