Security forces have rescued about 350 male students abducted by extremist militants in northern Nigeria and taken to the bush. They were taken hostage at a school in Kankara six days ago
Katsina provincial governor Aminu Bello Masari has said a total of 344 boys detained in Rugu Forest in neighboring Zamfara state have been released.
In an announcement made on NTA national television last night, the governor said the boys had been sent to Katsina state for medical examination and handed over to their families. He did not disclose whether the government provided any ransom.
During the rescue operation, security forces surrounded the area where the youths were being held and were ordered not to fire a single shot.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has praised their release, saying it is a great relief for their families and the country as a whole and for the international community.
Amid the outcry in the West African nation over insecurity in the north of the country, Buhari noted his government's successful efforts to secure the release of previously held students. He acknowledged that the northwestern region was a major challenge for his administration.
The Boko Haram group under its leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the abduction last Friday at a government high school in Kankara, Katsina state.
More than 800 students were at school at the time of the attack. Hundreds escaped but it is believed More than 330 were taken hostage.
For more than a decade, Boko Haram has been waging a bloody campaign aimed at introducing strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than a million have been left homeless following the unrest.
Katsina State closed all its boarding schools to prevent further kidnappings. Neighboring states of Zamfara, Jigiwa and Kani have also closed their schools as a precaution.
In February 2014, 59 boys were killed when militants stormed Buni Yadi Central Government College in Yobe state. In April 2014, Boko Haram abducted 270 girls from a government boarding school in Chibok in the northeastern state of Borno. About 100 of them are still unaccounted for.
In 2018, Boko Haram repatriated all 110 girls who had abducted them from a boarding school in Dapchi.