Gunmen kidnap more than 200 from Nigerian school

KANO (Nigeria), Mar 08 (AFP): Gunmen have kidnapped more than 200 pupils during a raid on a school in northwest Nigeria, a teacher and local residents said, in one of the country's largest mass abductions.
Kidnappings for ransom are common in Africa's most populous country, where heavily armed criminal gangs have targeted schools and colleges in the past, especially in the northwest, though such attacks have abated recently.
Local government officials in Kaduna State confirmed the kidnapping attack on Kuriga school on Thursday, but gave no figures as they said they were still working out how many children had been abducted.
At least one person was shot dead during the attack. Sani Abdullahi, one of the teachers at the GSS Kuriga school in the Chikun district, said staff managed to escape with many students.