Hundreds of pupils are missing after gunmen attacked a school in northwestern Nigeria in the second mass abduction within a week in the country.
Local government officials in Kaduna State confirmed the kidnappings from Kuriga school on Thursday, but did not provide figures as they were working out how many children had been abducted.
The school authorities told the state governor that about 25 of the abducted students had been returned to their parents, but 275 remained missing.
The Tide’s source reports that about 175 of those still missing are believed to be between the ages of eight to 15.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Friday directed security and intelligence agencies to “immediately rescue the victims and ensure that justice is served against the perpetrators of these abominable acts”, his office said.
Police did not provide figures for the abductees.
“As of this moment we have not been able to know the number of children or students that have been kidnapped,” Kaduna state Governor, Uba Sani, told newsmen in Kuriga on Thursday. “No child will be left behind.”
Idris Maiallura, the local councillor for Kuriga, said he had been to the school and that the gunmen initially took 100 primary school pupils but later freed them while others escaped.
Parents and residents blamed the abductions on a lack of security in the area.
The United Nations Children agency (UNICEF), condemned the attack and called on the government to do more to protect students.
“Schools are supposed to be sanctuaries of learning and growth, not sites of fear and violence,” UNICEF Nigeria Director Christian Munduate said in a statement.
The criminal networks can provide incentives to people within communities who do not feel supported by the government and are facing “hunger, starvation,  poverty and unemployment”, he added.