The over 300 abducted schoolboys of Government Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State have been released. The secretary to the state governme
The secretary to the state government, Mustapha Muhammad Inuwa, revealed this much this evening to BBC Hausa.
He said 340 schoolboys are now on their way from Tsafe in Zamfara State, where they were delivered, to Katsina town, a journey of about 200 kilometers that will take about three hours.
President Muhammadu Buhari will be expected to meet with the schoolboys tomorrow.
The SSG didn’t give details of the deal like how much was paid if money has exchanged hands, which is very likely. He also if any life was lost or not.
The schoolboys will be escorted by Nigerian security forces to the state capital Katsina where they will be received by the state Governor Aminu Bello Masari.
Bandits who reportedly rode on motorbikes had entered into the school premises on Friday November 11th and abducted over 500 schoolboys.
The police managed to rescue about 200 of the boys the following day and earlier this week, 17 others found their way out of captivity.
The presidency had earlier refuted the claim that over 333 schoolboys were still in captivity, saying only 10 were missing. A claim the Nigerian army dismissed, thus corroborating the earlier number the state governor mentioned were missing.
Recall that The Street Journal had reported that Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for the kidnap of the schoolboys.
The terror group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, made this known in a 4:28 long recording released in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Shekau said the schoolboys 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.
But just yesterday, the state governor refuted Boko Haram’s claim saying bandits abducted the schoolboys and the government is aware of who these bandits are and where they are.
