333 Kankara pupils regain freedom from abductors

By Tajudeen Adebanjo, Lagos; Augustine Okezie, Katsina; Gbade Ogunwale, Jide Orintunsin, Bolaji Ogundele; Abuja and Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

• Boys for medical exam before release to parents

• Buhari, Masari excited

The 333 boys of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State regained their freedom last night.

They were abducted when bandits invaded the school a week ago.

Secretary to the State Government, Mustapha Inuwa, confirmed the release of the boys in a statement.

He said they were being transported from the Zamfara State forest where they were taken by their abductors, to the Government House in Katsina, from where they would be made to undergo medical examination before being handed over to their parents and guardians.

Governor Aminu Masari told the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) during its primetime news last night that the boys would be reunited with their families Friday.

Masari said the government would increase security personnel in the schools to avert a re-occurrence.

“We have protected and secured all our schools. We are going to increase the number of security operatives in our schools to make sure that we don’t experience what we have experienced in the past six days.

“We want to encourage communities around those schools to form another security unit around the schools,” he said.

Earlier, dozens of people, including parents and guardians of the abducted students marched through the streets in response to a call from the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), a civil society body that focuses on the welfare of northern Nigerians. Some chanted “Save Northern Nigeria.”