"Ongoing search and rescue operations", says authority on abducted students in Nigeria

The authorities in Nigeria have stepped up their efforts to rescue the students who were abducted by the gunmen in Nigerian hostels, according to a report by Business Recorder.

The assault was reportedly observed in Katsina's school, the home state of Muhammadu Buhari the President which is condemned by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations (UN) children's agency.

The incident occurred late Friday when the gunmen on motorcycles barged into the Government Science School at Kankara. The gunmen who stormed the school engaged in fierce blazing causing students to flee.

Aminu Bello Masari the State governor, who visited the school earlier on Saturday, said that soldiers have been working to find and free the hostages.

He stated, "soldiers are currently in the bushes fighting the bandits. We will do all we can to ensure all the abducted children are reclaimed".Frank Mbas, the National police spokesman said about the additional deployed arms, as he quoted, "additional operational and investigative assets to support the ongoing search and rescue operations in Kankara".

Masari added that the numbers of abducted students were still not clear as he said "in the hands of the bandits" since the number of escaped students was yet not clear.

While earlier on Sunday, Masari in this statement to a federal government said, "the school has a population of 839 and so far, we are yet to account for 333 students. We are still counting because more are still coming out of the forest. Up till this moment, no one can give a precise figure of the children abducted".

He has piloted the school to take a count of returned students.