School owner speaks to kidnapped Nigerian students

Ishaq Khalid

BBC News, Abuja

The gunmen who abducted more than 100 students from a boarding school in northern Nigeria have contacted school officials to tell them that those who were kidnapped were alive and in good health.

The armed criminal gang stormed the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state on Monday, seizing the students from their dormitories. 

It’s the latest in a wave of mass kidnappings for ransom in Nigeria that has seen more than 1,000 students seized in the last seven months. 

The school's owner, Reverend Ishaya Adamu Jangado, said the school officials briefly spoke with the gunmen and some of the kidnapped students on Tuesday. 

He said that the children could be heard crying and pleading to be rescued. 

Rev Jangado added that 121 students were being held. Initial reports suggested more than 140 students had been abducted. 

The gunmen are yet to make any ransom demands. 

The Nigerian authorities say security forces are trying to rescue the schoolchildren.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Getty Images