Osama Aminu Maale, an 18-year-old student of Government Science School, Kankara, in Katsina State, has narrated how he escaped from bandits who kidnapped hundreds of his colleagues last Friday.
According to Maale, 520 students were abducted when the
armed bandits stormed the school on Friday night.
“There were a total of 520 of us that were taken by the
gunmen from the school,” he told AFP on the phone.
“After they took us away we stopped inside the bus where
they made the older students take a headcount. We counted 520,” he said.
The hostages were split into groups before Maale and four
others escaped.
“One of the gunmen hit me repeatedly when I failed to keep
up with the rest of the group due to my failing health before he let me trail
behind, giving me the chance to escape,” Maale added.
The Federal Government has said efforts were on to rescue
students abducted by armed men who raided their hostels.
UN children’s agency UNICEF condemned the assault on the
school in Katsina, the home state of the President, Major General Muhammadu
Buhari (retd.).
State governor, Aminu Masari, who visited the school on
Saturday, said soldiers were working to locate and free the hostages.
“Soldiers are currently in the bushes fighting the bandits.
We will do all we can to ensure all the abducted children are reclaimed,” he
said.
Masari said it was still not clear how many students were
“in the hands of the bandits” and how many had managed to escape.
“The school has a population of 839 and so far, we are yet
to account for 333 students,” Masari told a federal government delegation in
his office on Sunday.
“We are still counting because more are still coming out of
the forest,” said the governor.
“Up till this moment, no one can give a precise figure of
the children abducted,” he stated, adding that students who escaped confirmed
some of their peers were taken.
Since the attack, all secondary schools in the state have
been shut. Residents of Kankara also protested the abduction of the students on
Sunday, asking the authorities to ensure their speedy release.
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