As many as 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram, Nigerian officials say
April 16, 2014  03:27

As many as 200 girls were abducted from their boarding school in northeastern Nigeria by heavily armed Boko Haram Islamists who arrived in trucks, vans and buses, officials and witnesses said.

 

The group has recently stepped up attacks in the region, and its leader released a video last month threatening to kidnap girls from schools. Dozens of gunmen stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, about 130 km (81 miles) west of Maiduguri, on Monday night as the students slept in their dormitories, officials said.

 

They engaged the soldiers guarding the school in a lengthy gun battle and then herded the girls onto vehicles. "Many girls were abducted by the rampaging gunmen who stormed the school in a convoy of vehicles," said Emmanuel Sam, an education official in Chibok.

 

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