The girls were abducted on Friday by gunmen who stormed their public school in northwestern Nigeria, in Zamfara state, police said. A spokesman for the area’s regional governor, Bello Matawalle, said Tuesday that the 279 girls had been safely returned and taken into account.
But the violence erupted when schoolgirls met with their parents in Jangebe on Wednesday, eyewitnesses told CNN.
Witnesses said parents who wanted to take their children home were impatient with government officials making speeches. Officials also told parents they planned to keep the girls at school overnight before sending them home, observers said.
The video obtained by reporters on the ground showed relatives shouting and assaulting in the lobby where the girls and officials were. Young people who came with adults began throwing stones at government officials, the parents said. Then the soldiers opened fire, which caused further chaos, with parents struggling to grab their daughters.
One of the parents, Safiyanu Jangebe, told CNN: “We are tired of waiting. Government officials were talking and talking while we were just waiting to take our children. They started saying they would hand us the girls tomorrow (Thursday). we could take it … some angry young people started throwing stones at the soldiers. They started firing and shot three children. One is dead. Why is the government treating us without human feelings? ”
Abubakar Shittu’s son was one of the teenagers shot. Video provided to CNN by hospital reporters showed the boy lying on a bed with a bloodied leg.
“After kidnapping our daughters, look at how the soldiers arrived and shot our sons. Now, what of these pains will we deal with? [with]Abubakar said in the video, as he lies on his unconscious son, who is lying in a hospital bed.
Zamfara police commissioner Abutu Yaro denied that his men shot at parents and children, calling the reports “false news”.
“I think parents took their children in a hurry because they think they come from very distant villages, that was what happened,” he said. “As for the shooting which is a fake report, I don’t have that report on my table.”
Immediately after the incident, the local government imposed a curfew at dawn on Jangebe, a statement said on Wednesday. “It is about preventing any further violation of the peace,” the statement said, which made no reference to the shooting.
Rescue hijacking is common in some parts of Nigeria and has become a major security challenge. State governors regularly pay ransoms to ensure the safety of victims, but rarely admit to doing so.
CNN’s Stephanie Busari contributed to the reports.