A secondary school in Nigeria was overtaken by a group of gunmen over the weekend, leaving an estimated 400 students unaccounted for, according to reports.
Armed men — called “bandits” by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari — attacked the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara on Friday night, which is believed to have approximately 600-800 students, according to the Associated Press and Reuters.
The AP reported that a gunfight ensued between police and the bandits in order to give students at the all-boys school an “opportunity to scale the fence of the school and run for safety,” according to Katsina State police spokesman Gambo Isah.
Though it’s unclear just how many students were taken hostage by the attackers, about half remain unaccounted for, the BBC reported.
Student Osama Aminu Maale, 18, told the outlet that he managed to escape when the attackers split him and his classmates into groups.
“After they took us away we stopped inside the bus where they made the older students take a headcount. We counted 520,” he said. “One of the gunmen hit me repeatedly when I failed to keep up with the rest of the group due to my failing health before he let me trail behind, giving me the chance to escape.”
By Saturday, the military had tracked down an area in the Zango/Paula forest that the bandits were using as an “enclave,” Garba Shehu, a spokesperson for President Buhari, wrote on Twitter.
“There ha[s] been exchange of fire in an ongoing operation,” he wrote. “Police said so far, there has not been reported any student casualty.”
Reuters reported that one officer was shot and wounded amid the gunfire.
Bint’a Ismail was one of many parents who gathered at the school on Saturday to await news.
“I have a child and a younger brother who’ve been taken by the kidnappers,” Ismail told the BBC. “We are terrified here in Katsina state. We don’t see the point of the government.”
The BBC reported on Monday morning that Nigerian government troops had the area around the enclave surrounded.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly bandits’ attack on innocent children at the Science School, Kankara,” President Buhari said in a statement. “Our prayers are with the families of the students, the school authorities and the injured.”
There are several groups of bandits active in the area, and they are known for kidnapping people in exchange for ransom, the AP reported.
