Lagos, Dec. 18, (dpa/GNA) – Nigerian school boys abducted in an attack claimed by jihadist group Boko Haram have been released, state television reported late Thursday citing the local government.
“Katsina state government announces release of abducted Kankara school boys” Nigeria’s state-owned television station NTA said in a news flash, referring to the town the children were kidnapped from.
It was unclear from the TV report whether all 333 children are now free.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the Friday abduction of the hundreds of children from a school in Katsina State, saying they had carried it out because Western education runs counter to Islam.
Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement back on Monday that “the kidnappers had made contact and discussions were already on pertaining to safety and return” of the children.
For years Boko Haram has been fighting to install strict Islamic rule in Nigeria. The group was responsible for the 2014 abduction of 276 female students from their dormitory at a school in Chibok. At least a hundred of those girls are still missing.
Boko Haram is known to use young girls as suicide bombers while boys are used as child soldiers.
GNA