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Nigeria's Zamfara attack: Hundreds of schoolgirls feared kidnapped | Nigeria's Zamfara attack: Hundreds of schoolgirls feared kidnapped |
(about 2 hours later) | |
This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks | This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks |
Hundreds of schoolgirls are feared to have been kidnapped in the north-western state of Zamfara. | Hundreds of schoolgirls are feared to have been kidnapped in the north-western state of Zamfara. |
A teacher told the BBC that at least 300 students were unaccounted for after the Friday morning attack by gunmen. | A teacher told the BBC that at least 300 students were unaccounted for after the Friday morning attack by gunmen. |
A spokesman for the state's governor has confirmed the attack but did not give details. | A spokesman for the state's governor has confirmed the attack but did not give details. |
This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom. | This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom. |
At least 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped last week in the central state of Niger, are yet to be released. | |
In December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped by gunmen and later released after negotiations. | In December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped by gunmen and later released after negotiations. |
Africa Live: More on this and other stories | Africa Live: More on this and other stories |
Is Boko Haram carrying out school kidnappings? | |
The town that lost its girls | The town that lost its girls |
Friday's attack happened at 01:00 local time (midnight GMT) when a group of gunmen arrived at the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe town with pick-up vehicles and motorcycles, a teacher told news site Punch. | |
Some of the gunmen were dressed as government security forces, the report said, adding that they forced the schoolgirls in the vehicles. | |
But other witnesses have told the BBC that the armed men arrived on foot at the school. | |
Worried parents have gathered outside the school and some have gone out into the bush to look for their daughters, witnesses say. | |
A teacher told the BBC that of 421 students in the school at the time, only 55 had been unaccounted for, meaning more than 300 were believed to have been kidnapped. | A teacher told the BBC that of 421 students in the school at the time, only 55 had been unaccounted for, meaning more than 300 were believed to have been kidnapped. |
Abdulhadi Abubaka describes how he managed to avoid the mass kidnapping in Nigeria's Katsina school in December last year | Abdulhadi Abubaka describes how he managed to avoid the mass kidnapping in Nigeria's Katsina school in December last year |