Hundreds of Nigerian schoolchildren abducted by Boko Haram last week were released into government on Thursday, the local state governor announced.
Seconds The Wall Street Journal, Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari said Thursday in a television interview that 344 boys had been given to state authorities in a forest more than a hundred kilometers from the school where they were abducted last Friday. .
Masari added that the boys would receive immediate medical attention and are scheduled to meet with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday.
This comes two days after Boko Haram, a terrorist organization designated by the United States, officially claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The students were abducted at gunpoint by the Katsina government high school of science.
The Nigerian newspaper reported that it received an audio message from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau saying that his group kidnapped schoolchildren because Western education violates the principles of Islam. The Associated Press.
At least 600 boys were able to escape the assault on the school, AP reported, while the attackers were involved in a shootout with local police.
Earlier on Thursday, Boko Haram released a video allegedly showing one of the schoolchildren begging the Nigerian government to disband the army and vigilante groups, as well as the schools, according to The New York Times.
“We were caught by a band of Abu Shekau,” he said. “Some of us were killed.”
“You have to send them the money,” he added.
A dozen younger boys gathered around him in the video and said, “Help us,” on camera, the Times reported.
In an interview with the BBC recorded before the news of the release occurred, Masari said the kidnappers had contacted the father of one of the abducted boys and demanded that the government pay ransom.
“We have an idea of where they are, but we are trying to make sure there is no collateral damage, that the children come back safely,” he said during the interview. “That’s why we’re stepping on it carefully and gently.”
The Times reported that Masari told a Deutsche Welle television reporter after the statement that the government had not paid money to Boko Haram.
Nigeria has been subjected to increased international control over the treatment of terrorist groups and alleged abuses by Nigerian forces.
Last week, the United States designated Nigeria for the first time as a country of particular concern for violations of religious freedom, one of the most serious designations by the State Department that opens the country to sanctions.