Following reports of the abduction of hundreds of students in northwest Nigerian state, Katsina, the governor of the state has revealed that 333 students are still missing.
Bandits attacked the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina state on Friday night with many students reportedly missing.
The Nigerian government has said soldiers and Police officers have since been on the trail of the kidnappers and identified their hideout.
Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari said while some students of the school who escaped the attack have returned, there are still more than three hundred missing.
“Based on the available record we have, we are still searching for 333 students through either the forest or their parents to ascertain the actual number that have been kidnapped,” the governor said.
“We are still counting because more are coming out from the forest and we are calling through the numbers those parents that have phone numbers to find out whether or not their children have gone back home.
“We as government we are yet to be contacted by any group or person responsible for the kidnap of the students,” he said.
Nigeria’s Northwest has been plagued with banditry and a kidnap-for-ransom business that has seen at least five states in the region under heavy security threats.
Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States have been hotbeds for kidnappers in the last two years, with students of the Ahmadu Bello University abducted recently.
Residents of Katsina State and parents have gone out on protests against government as their lives are in grave danger.