Kidnappers abduct schoolchildren in Nigeria

Second such kidnapping in little more than a week in northern Nigeria

Nigerian security forces are searching for gunmen who abducted more than 300 pupils from a government girls junior secondary school in Jangebe, northern Nigeria, on Friday. AP photo

Students who escaped from gunmen wait outside the school premises for their parents after 317 girls were taken at gunpoint from their school in Zamfara state, Nigeria. EPA

Parents of kidnapped pupils of wait at Jangebe Government Girls Junior Secondary School wait for information about their children from Zamfara state police. AP

Parents arrive at the school compound in search of children kidnapped by gunmen in Jangede, Zamfara state in northern Nigeria. AFP

Nigerian President Muhammad Buhari said the people who took pupils from the government girls junior secondary school in Jangebe were "bandits, kidnappers and terrorists". AP

Empty classroom of the government girls junior secondary school following an attack by gunmen in Jangebe, Nigeria. AP

A ransacked dormitory at the school in Jangede, northern Nigeria, after more than 300 pupils were taken at gunpoint. EPA

A broken window of a dormitory at Jangebe Government Girls Secondary School in Zamfara state, Nigeria. EPA

An empty classroom of at the government girls junior secondary school following an attack by gunmen in Jangebe, Nigeria. AP

Schoolchildren were abducted in north-west Nigeria's Zamfara state, a spokesman for the state governor said on Friday.

He declined to say how many children were taken or provide further details.

A teacher from the region told AFP that hundreds of girls were abducted.

"More than 300 girls are unaccounted for after a head count of remaining students," said a teacher at the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe.

A parent told AFP he received a call about the incident.

"I'm on my way to Jangebe. I received a call that the school was invaded by bandits who took away schoolgirls. I have two daughters in the school," said Sadi Kawaye.

Police have not yet confirmed the incident.

This is the second such kidnapping in a little more than a week in northern Nigeria, where a surge in armed militancy led to widespread and worsening security problems.

Last week, gunmen killed a pupil in an overnight attack on a boarding school in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger and kidnapped 42 people, including 27 pupils.

The hostages have not yet been released.

In December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped from a school in Kankara, in President Muhammadu Buhari's home state of Katsina, while he visited the region.

The boys were released after negotiations with government officials but the incident caused global outrage.