The Abubakar Shekau-led faction of Boko Haram has released a video showing students purportedly kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Gunmen had on December 11 invaded the school, shooting into the air to scare away people in the area.
As of December 13, Governor Aminu Masari said over 300 students were confirmed missing.
On Tuesday, Shekau, in a four-minute video, said Boko Haram, whose ideology is against western education, carried out the abduction of the Katsina schoolboys.
âKatsina Abduction Was Done To Discourage Western Education” â Boko Haram Claims Responsibility For Abduction Of School Pupils In New Audio
LISTEN TO FULL AUDIO: https://t.co/At5WrXlL39 pic.twitter.com/SB1XVV91pj
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) December 16, 2020
But Masari on Wednesday while speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today disclaimed the video, saying local bandits were responsible for the incident.
But in six minutes and 30 seconds long released by the group on Thursday, hundreds of other young boys could be seen behind Shekau, all covered in dust.
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Since January 2019 thousands of people in the North-West states of Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara have been killed or injured.
Others have lost their livelihoods, at least 23 000 have been displaced, and dozens have been abducted for ransom, nurturing an economy of violence.
