Hundreds of students abducted from a school in Kankara Local Government Area (LGA) of Katsina State have been released, authorities in the state have said.
The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, confirmed the release of the students on Thursday, a week after they were kidnapped by gunmen.
According to him, the boys are presently kept safe in Tsafe, a local government area in Zamfara State.
Governor Masari noted that the boys would be brought back to Kankara in Katsina State on Friday.
Mr Suleiman Tsiga, who is the Information Officer of Ƙanƙara LGA, also confirmed the release of the students to Channels Television.
He disclosed that the state governor, Aminu Masari, had directed that the children be moved to Ƙankara LGA secretariat before he changed his decision for security reasons.
Although the government did not give a specific figure of students released by their captors, over 300 of them were unaccounted for before the news of their freedom broke.
Shortly after their release was reported, President Muhammadu Buhari described the safe return of the schoolboys as a big relief to their families, the entire country, and to the international community.
He commended what he called the spirit of partnership and the collaborative efforts of the governments of Katsina, Zamfara, and military which led to the release of the students.
“The Governor (Masari) and the army worked extremely hard. As soon as I got the information, I congratulated them.
“The Armed Forces know their job. They have been well trained and properly motivated,” President Buhari was quoted as saying in a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu.
Katsina State is located in the north-west region of the country, but the Boko Haram terrorist group which has been operating in the North East for more than a decade claimed responsibility for the abduction.
On Friday last week, gunmen suspected to be bandits invaded the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara.
While some of the students abducted escaped during the incident, some others returned recently as the grieving parents keep watch at the school in anticipation of their children’s release.
