Boko Haram claims responsibility for abduction of Nigerian students

Rebels from the Boko Haram extremist group claimed responsibility Tuesday for last week's abduction of hundreds of boys from a school in Nigeria's northern Katsina State — one of the largest such attacks in years, raising fears of a growing wave of violence in the region.

More than 330 students remained missing from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, after gunmen with assault rifles attacked their school Friday night. Scores of others managed to escape.

The government and the attackers are negotiating the fate of the boys, according to Garba Shehu, a spokesperson for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

"The kidnappers had made contact and discussions were already on, pertaining to the safety and return" of the children to their homes, said Shehu on Twitter during talks with Katsina Gov. Aminu Masari. Neither official said whether the negotiations are with Boko Haram or another group.

Masari said security agencies "deployed for rescue operations have also informed us that they have located their position."

The Daily Nigerian said it received an audio message from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claiming the abduction, although there was no independent verification of its authenticity.

The Islamic extremist group has carried out mass abductions of students before. The most serious took place in April 2014, when more than 270 schoolgirls were taken from their dormitory at the Government Secondary School in Chibok in northeastern Borno State. About 100 of the girls are still missing.

In February 2014, 59 boys were killed during a Boko Haram attack on the Federal Government College Buni Yadi in Yobe State.

Some students able to escape during gunfight, police say

In the audio message about Friday's attack, Shekau said his group abducted the schoolboys because Western education is against the tenets of Islam.

More than 600 students attend the school. Many were able to escape during a gunfight between the attackers and the police, according to state police spokesman Gambo Isah.

Students corroborated this account with various news agencies, saying many of them were also rounded up and forced to walk to a nearby forest, where some were also able to flee.

Several armed groups operate in northern Nigeria, where Katsina State is located. It was originally believed that the attackers were bandits, who sometimes work with Boko Haram.

Bandits have operated in the northwest region for some time, and kidnappings have increased in recent years. Amnesty International says that more than 1,100 people were killed in the first six months of 2020 in violence related to attacks by bandits.

Joint rescue operation

A joint rescue operation was launched Saturday by Nigeria's police, air force and army after the military engaged in gunfights with bandits after locating their hideout in the Zango/Paula forest.

If Boko Haram is proven to be behind the abduction, it could mean a new wave of religious extremism is on the rise in Nigeria. For more than 10 years, the group has engaged in a bloody campaign for introducing strict Islamic rule, but it has been mainly active in northeast Nigeria, not in the northwest, where Katsina State is located. Thousands have been killed and more than a million people displaced by the violence.

Friday's abduction has become a rallying cry for Nigerians fed up with growing violence, with #BringBackOurBoys trending on Twitter as people express their frustrations. A similar #BringBackOurGirls became an international rallying cry for the Chibok girls.

Investigation into war crimes could be coming

The abductions also come as Boko Haram and the Nigerian military may be investigated for war crimes in the rebels' insurgency, which has lasted more than a decade.

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor last week said a probe has found enough evidence to merit opening a full-scale inquiry into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Boko Haram extremists as well as into charges that Nigerian government forces have also perpetrated abuses.

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said there is a "reasonable basis to believe" Boko Haram and splinter groups linked to it committed crimes including murder, rape, sexual slavery and torture, as well as intentionally targeting schools and places of worship and using child soldiers. While a vast majority of the criminality in the conflict has been carried out by Boko Haram, prosecutors also found grounds to believe members of Nigeria's security forces had committed crimes, she said.

Amnesty International last week released a report saying at least 10,000 civilians have died in Nigerian military custody since 2011 after being detained in connection with the Boko Haram insurgency in northern Nigeria.