Two out of the abducted students of Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri in Kebbi State have regained their freedom.
The students were rescued by the police authorities in a forest of Dansadau District, Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
Spokesman of the Zamfara State Police Command, SP Mohammed Shehu, confirmed this on Sunday to journalists in Gusau.
It is however not clear if any ransom was paid to secure the release of the students, even as uncertainly looms over the remaining number of students still in captivity.
The rescue effort is coming about six weeks after gunmen suspected to be bandits stormed the school and abducted an unspecified number of students and four teachers.
The gunmen also killed a police officer during the attack.
The school kidnappings have persisted as the country continues to battle several security challenges, including but not limited to an insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, secessionist agitations in the South-East and Fulani-Herdsmen crises across the Middle-Belt and several South-West states.
Many schools in the northern part of the country have been targeted by bandits lately.
Prior to the Kebbi students’ kidnap, gunmen had whisked away about 200 students of an Islamiyya school in Niger State in May.
The abductors usually demand a ransom before students are released.
While denying ever paying ransom to release kidnapped persons, the Federal Government has repeatedly promised to end the abduction of students across the country.
Kebbi, a northwest state about 600km away from Abuja, has been in the news lately for the wrong reasons.
Earlier in June, at least 66 people were said to have been killed in attacks launched by gunmen on several communities in the Danko-Wasagu local government area of the state.
At least 36 people also died after a boat capsized in the Ngaski local government area of the state in late May.
According to the police spokesman, Nafiu Abubakar, Thursday’s attack and abduction started when the bandits, in their large numbers, invaded the school at about 12 noon and started shooting sporadically to create panic among the students and teachers.
Details shortly…
