Boko Haram claims responsibility for abduction of Katsina schoolboys, gives reason

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the kidnap of students from Government Science school, Kankara, Katsina State.

The terror group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, made this known in a 4:28 long recording released in the wee hours of Tuesday and obtained by HumAngle.

Shekau said the boys were kidnapped to promote Islam and discourage western education.
“What happened in Katsina was done to promote Islam and discourage un-Islamic practices as Western education is not the type of education permitted by Allah and his Holy Prophet,” Shekau said.

According to him, “The school is not teaching what Allah and his Holy Prophet commanded. They are rather destroying Islam.”

The Boko Haram leader noted that though their actions may be subtle, “Allah the Lord of the skies and earth knows whatever is hidden. May Allah promote Islam. May we die as Muslims. In a nutshell, we are behind what happened in Katsina,” Shekau added.

Meanwhile, the federal government has assured that the students would be rescued soon.

The Street Journal had reported that the presidency had countered the number of schoolboys abducted given by the Katsina State government, saying that only 10 of the schoolboys were abducted. Last night, the Nigeria army corroborated the figure given by the Katsina State government as 333.

Presidential spokesman was quoted by BBC Hausa Service, in a bulletin. The BBC said, “The Government of Nigeria has said its security forces have surrounded the location where gunmen have kept schoolchildren abducted from a secondary school in Katsina State.

“Spokesman for the President, Mallam Garba Shehu told the BBC only ten children were remaining in the hands of the gunmen according to their colleagues who escaped from the gunmen.”

President Buhari is currently in Daura, Katsina State, where he is on a week-long visit to his hometown but has yet to visit Kankara, a nearby town where the schoolboys were taken away.