Anxiety is growing among the parents of hundreds of students who remain missing three days after gunmen attacked their school in Katsina State in northern Nigeria, Associated Press reported.
More than 300 students are missing after the attack on the Government Science Secondary School, a boys’ school in Kankara, on Friday night, Katsina Governor Aminu Masari said.
A joint rescue operation was launched Saturday by Nigeria’s police, air force and army, according to the Government. The military was in gunfights with the bandits after locating their hideout in the Zango/Paula forest Saturday, according to a statement by President Muhammadu Buhari.
When the school was attacked, police engaged in a gunfight with the gunmen, allowing many students to scale the school’s fence and run for safety, according to Katsina State police spokesman Gambo Isah. The school has more than 600 students.
Salish Masi said that two of his sons are among those still missing.
“I am worried that after three days I have no news about my children,” he told The Associated Press yesterday. “I have been waiting for the authorities to tell me what happened but till now, they have said nothing.”
Another parent, Mustapha Gargaba, said he is very anxious because he does not know what has happened to his son.