Nigerian troops exchange fire with school raiders

LAGOS, Nigeria－The Nigerian military had located and exchanged fire with gunmen who kidnapped scores of secondary school students in northwestern Katsina state, the country's President Muhammadu Buhari said.

The gunmen, armed with AK-47s, stormed the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara district about 9:40 pm on Friday, police and locals said. About half the school's 800 students were missing, a parent and school employee said.

The military had located the kidnappers in a forest and was exchanging fire with them, aided by air support, Buhari said on Saturday.

Police at the scene on Friday exchanged fire with the attackers, allowing some students to run for safety, a police spokesman said.

Police said that one officer was shot and wounded in the gunfire.

On Saturday local police said more than 200 students of the secondary school had returned.

Most of the students jumped over a school fence into the bush and other locations nearby to hide as the gunmen attacked, police said.

No student was killed during the Friday night attack, they said.

Aminu Masari, the governor of Katsina state, visited the school and other government officials, some parents, traditional and religious leaders and security officials on Saturday.

Action pledged

An emotional Masari pleaded with people to be patient and show restraint, assuring them that the government would do everything necessary to ensure the release of any abducted students.

Security agencies had swung into action and were on the trail of the bandits, he said, assuring residents that both federal and state governments were doing their best to bring an end to banditry and other debilitating criminal activities in the state.

Katsina is plagued by violence. Attacks by Islamist militants are common in northeastern parts of the country.

Violence and insecurity across Nigeria have enraged citizens, particularly after scores of farmers were killed, some beheaded, by Islamist militants in northeast Borno state late last month.

Xinhua - Agencies