“We don’t listen to any specific demands, but we will make sure the kids come home,” he said. “All areas are protected, but the security forces here are not firing because we want to make sure that … we don’t receive any collateral damage.”
Local police said a large number of motorcyclist attackers ambushed the government science high school in Kankara, Katsina state, last week. The attack could have been a kidnapping attempt to rescue them, they said.
There have been several estimates of the number of children abducted from the school. Government officials said it was difficult to keep an accurate track of the figures as some children fled during the attack and others escaped and returned to the villages and to school over the weekend.
“We [the government] they are ultimately responsible, ”Masari said.
A man claiming to be the leader of Boko Haram said on Tuesday that the terrorist group was responsible for the kidnapping, according to a brief audio message shared with the Nigerian media and reviewed by CNN.
“I am Abubakar Shekau and our brothers are behind the kidnapping in Katsina,” the recording man said. Shekau is the leader of one of the Boko Haram factions.
Masari did not completely dismiss the voice note, but warned that “more concrete evidence” was needed before it could be confirmed that Boko Haram was involved.
The kidnappers have not yet made a direct lawsuit, but a son of a teacher who was among the abductees contacted his father. He only complained that the air force was flying up and mentioned that they might need money.
When asked if he would pay a ransom, Masari said it is not “our government’s policy” to do so.
“We will find other ways to ensure the lives and freedom of children,” he added.
The kidnapping is outside the usual area of Boko Haram activity. Its operations have generally focused on the northeast of the country, although security analysts believe its scope has changed after a security crackdown in the region.
In recent years there have been several kidnappings for rescue in Katsina State, but not on this scale.
Several witnesses told CNN that the attackers at the school were gunmen from Fulani, an ethnic group that has been involved in kidnappings and criminal activities in the area.
Boko Haram’s Shekau faction was behind the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolchildren in Chibok in 2014. Their captivity lasted for years and many of the children were never returned after a negotiated release.
In 2018, a Boko Haram separatist faction known as ISWAP kidnapped more than 100 girls in Dapchi. All but one were released weeks later, after negotiations.
While these are the most prominent examples, Boko Haram has abducted more than 1,000 children since 2013, according to UNICEF.
“We are now responsible and will fulfill our responsibility to ensure and ensure that we do the best we can to safeguard the lives of our people and now [the] the priority is to make sure these children return safely to their families and back to school, ”Masari said.
CNN’s Caroline Paterson contributed to this report.