330 boys kidnapped by extremists in Nigeria

In the village of Kankara, anger, fear, and exhaustion has overwhelmed many parents in Nigeria's northern Kankara village. More than 330 children were kidnapped by extremists from a government boys school last week.

Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, said that 17 boys have been rescued since the attack, including 15 by the military, another by police, and one boy found roaming in the forest who was brought in by residents.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist rebels have claimed responsibility for the abduction of the students from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara. Hundreds of other students managed to escape by jumping the fence during the extremists’ attack or by fleeing as they were taken into the nearby forest.

Boko Haram kidnapped the boys from the school because it believes Western education is un-Islamic, the rebels’ leader Abubakar Shekau said in a video claiming responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

The Nigerian government is in talks with the attackers in an effort to free the boys, government spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement. He did not, however, identify the attackers whom the government earlier described as bandits.