At least 287 school pupils have been abducted in Nigeria after gunmen attacked as classes were about to start, their headteacher said.

It is the second mass abduction in the West African nation in less than a week – more than 200 people were taken by extremists in north-eastern Nigeria days before.

Locals told reporters that gunmen surrounded the school in Kuriga town around 8am on Thursday.

“We will ensure that every child will come back,” Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna state, told villagers. “We are working with the security agencies.”

No group claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack, although blame fell on armed groups that mostly constitute herders who have been accused of carrying out violent attacks and kidnappings for ransom following decades-long pastoral conflict with host communities.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Read more:
At least 85 people killed in ‘mistaken’ army drone attack
Nigeria bank boss killed in California helicopter crash

Observers say both attacks are a reminder of Nigeria’s worsening security crisis which resulted in the deaths of several hundred people in 2023, according to analysis by the Associated Press.

Nigeria bank boss killed in California helicopter crash

Nigeria: At least 85 people killed in ‘mistaken’ army drone attack

69 people arrested over ‘gay wedding’ in Nigeria freed on bail

Bola Tinubu was elected president of Nigeria last year after promising to end the violence.

But there has been “no tangible improvement in the security situation yet” under Tinubu, said Oluwole Ojewale, West and Central Africa researcher with the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies.

Concerns over abductions of schoolchildren in Nigeria arose in 2014 when Islamic extremists kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls in Borno state’s Chibok village.

In recent years, the abductions have been concentrated in northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for huge ransoms.

Related posts:

Pair sentenced to death for raping woman in front of children after car ran out of fuel ‘Walrus from Space’ climate change project urges public to help search for animals in satellite images Britain’s most notorious conman Mark Acklom extradited to Spain days after early prison release Two children among 18 killed as Russian missiles hit flats before dawn In city where COVID began, there is creeping sense more suffering is coming CCTV shows chilling moment Russian FSB agents and soldiers scour Ukrainian orphanage for children Hundreds evacuated as Spain’s wildfire season starts ‘very early’ UK diplomats evacuated from Sudan after ‘significant escalation in violence’, PM says China has ‘a responsibility’ for the ‘tragic’ situation in Myanmar Thousands of acres of blackened wasteland show the climate crisis is very real – and it’s getting worse Irish leaders attend former taoiseach John Bruton’s state funeral Imran Khan’s sister says Nawaz Sharif’s claim to election victory is an ‘insult to Pakistanis’