Gunmen kidnap hundreds of girls from Zamfara school

 Eyewitnesses say around 300 schoolgirls may have been abducted.

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State [Twitter/@Bellomatawalle1]

Gunmen have kidnapped hundreds of students from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in the Talata Mafara Local Government area of Zamfara State, a week after a similar abduction of 45 people from a school in Niger State.

The armed attackers invaded the school around 1 am on Friday, February 26, 2021, according to the state's Commissioner for Information, Suleiman Tunau Anka.

The commissioner did not reveal how many were abducted, but eyewitnesses told BBC Hausa that a headcount of those left at the school showed around 300 may have been taken.

The commissioner said security forces have already been mobilised to rescue the students.

Zamfara is one of the worst-affected by the activities of armed groups in the northern region.

The state governor, Bello Matawalle, has been offering amnesty to 'repentant' bandits to surrender their arms, a programme that has achieved mixed results.

Details later.