Nigerian military in firefight with gang who kidnapped students

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters), 12 Dec, 2020 - The Nigerian military had located and exchanged fire with gunmen who kidnapped scores of secondary school students in northwestern Katsina state, according to a statement from the president on Saturday.

The gang, armed with AK-47s, stormed the Government Science secondary school in Kankara district at about 9:40 p.m. on Friday, police and locals said. A parent and school employee told Reuters that roughly half of the school’s 800 students were missing.

President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement that the military had located the kidnappers in a forest and was exchanging fire with them, aided by air support. In the statement, Buhari condemned the attack in his home state. Police and the military were still working to determine how many were kidnapped and missing.