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Abducted Katsina schoolboys released, Miyetti Allah connection
BY NICHOLAS ABE
No fewer than 344 of the schoolboys kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, last Friday night, have been released.
Abdul Labaran, the Director-General, Media, to Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, confirmed the release of the students.
He told journalists that 344 boys have been freed. However, the school register showed that over 500 students were missing.
Multiple sources in Katsina and Abuja said the schoolboys were released today after “rigorous” negotiation between governments at the national and state levels on one hand and the abductors on the other side.
“The boys, in company of security operatives, negotiators and other stakeholders, are on their way to Katsina from the point of exchange,” one of the sources disclosed.
It is not clear if ransom was paid to secure the release of the boys.
READ: Miyetti Allah accuses Fulani leaders for rising insecurity in Nigeria
The Boko Haram faction loyal to Abubakar Shekau, which claimed responsibility for the abduction, released a video of the students on Thursday afternoon.
The students, seen in the bush, called on the federal government not to use force to rescue them.
Masari Thursday night said the boys were at Tsafe, Zamfara State, and would be transported to Kankara, about 82km by road, on Friday.
According to him, the release of the schoolboys was facilitated by the leadership of MACABAN/Miyetti Allah.
The students were taken away from their hostels on Friday, December 11. Few of them have earlier escaped.