Boko Haram Claims Responsibility for Mass Abduction in Nigeria

The same group that was responsable for kidnapping hundreds of schoolgirls six years was behind the a similar act in north-western Katsina state last week, according to the terrorist organization's leader, Abubakar Shekau: "Our brothers were behind the abduction in Katsina.

Last Friday night, a large group of men armed with AK-47s overran the all-boys Government Science secondary school, leading over 300 students into surrounding forests.

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In April 2014, the group kidnapped 276 girls from a school in Chibok, 100 of whom are still missing, and the group has similarly kidnapped thousands of other in north-eastern, and more recently, north-western Nigeria.

Lacking detail, however, Shekau's statement has been met with doubt, as officials in Katsina have already received ransom demands from other groups of bandits that witnesses say were responsible. 

Given the reality that across the entire Sahel region, armed criminals, traffickers and Islamic extremists enjoy close relations, it's possible that the bandits may have traded some or all of the schoolboys to Boko Haram in exchange for money, weapons or other resources.

One of the students, 18-year-old Musa Adamu, was sleeping in the school dormitory when he heard gunshots: "The sound got louder, then I ran and jumped out of the window and over the fence of the school and ran along with many others into the forest. We spent the night there, because we were afraid to come back to the school,” he said.

Another student, Samatu Aliyu, was forced to flee into the forest by the attackers with hundreds of others, but escaped and found his way to Kankara after 36 hours.