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‘Some Of Us Were Killed’: Abducted Kankara Boys Speak In New Boko Haram Video 

Recently abducted students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, have cried for help in a video released by the Abubakar Shekau-led faction of Boko Haram on Thursday. 

In the six minutes 30 seconds video, the boys said some of them have been killed and pleaded with the government to respond to the demands of the terrorists, including paying ransom so they could be set free. 

The students of the all-boys boarding secondary school were abducted on Friday, December 11, after the terrorists stormed their school in the middle of the night, broke its gate, shot sporadically, and gathered the boys, claiming to be security operatives.

In the newly released video, the abductors showed the boys, with some of them crying, and claimed that they were in good health. 


One of the boys who spoke in both English and Hausa said they were 520 in number but some of them were killed because the government sent troops to rescue them. He urged the Federal Government to settle amicably with their abductors and advised against the use of military force in rescuing them. A voice behind the camera could be heard telling the pupil what to say.

“We have been caught by the gangs of Abu Shekau; some of us were killed,” the distraught student said. 

At least dozens of other young boys could be seen gathered close to him, all covered in dust and appearing to be within a forest area. A young member of the terrorist group stood in their midst wearing a military uniform, including a face mask, and wielding an assault rifle.

The abductors in the video said they kidnapped the students because the government refused to stop killing and arresting Fulani criminals. 

“We did this because you refused to stop killing and arresting Fulani,” one of them said. 

The young student then pleaded with the government to stop attacking the terrorists. “All the armies that you sent here can do nothing to them,” he said. 

He added that that government should “dissolve vigilante gangs and close down all types of schools, excluding Islamiyya [Qur’anic schools]”. 

Shekau speaks 

The leader of the Jama’atu Ahlussunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, spoke at the end of the video saying he was happy with the operation. 

He said many people thought he was lying when he claimed responsibility for the schoolboys’ abduction. Shekau said he would not add anything since sceptics could now see the boys by themselves. 

“Even if I didn’t say anything, here are my people speaking and here are your boys speaking too,” he said.

HumAngle earlier reported that Boko Haram said it was responsible for the kidnapping, which is the group’s most daring attack outside its stronghold in the Northeast.

The same faction of Boko Haram had in 2014 abducted 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State. Since then, only 164 have been freed while 112 others remain missing

To secure the release of some of the schoolgirls, the Nigerian government, complying with the terror group’s demands, secretly paid a ransom of €3 million and released about five imprisoned Boko Haram members.

Following this pattern, it is expected that the group will soon make specific demands for money and ask to swap the abducted students for some of its detained members.


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Aliyu Dahiru

Aliyu is an Assistant Editor at HumAngle and Head of the Radicalism and Extremism Desk. He has years of experience researching misinformation and influence operations. He is passionate about analysing jihadism in Africa and has published several articles on the topic. His work has been featured in various local and international publications.

'Kunle Adebajo

Head of Investigations at HumAngle. ‘Kunle covers conflict alongside its many intricacies and fallouts. He also writes about disinformation, the environment, and human rights. He's won a couple of journalism awards, including the 2021 Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism, the 2022 African Fact-checking Award, and the 2023 Michael Elliott Award for Excellence in African Storytelling.

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3 Comments

  1. I thought Nigeria Army sometimes ago claimed that he arrested the so called Shekau?
    How manage he is now on their neck again?

  2. I think the Government at all levels didn’t approach the matter appropriately. When there is an abduction, and the hostages are still in the hand of the kidnappers, the first thing is to ascertain the number of persons missing, then wait and hear from the kidnappers their terms and conditions for peaceful release of hostages, negotiate through dragging and bargaining and subsequent peaceful release of hostages. But sending troops for rescue and bragging of adequate security and Intel to make a rescue would rather worsen the situation as seen here with Kankara school boys, now that some boys were killed as confessed by the bandits and confirmed from one of the boys there.
    If at all there would be a rescue operation, the modus operandi should be strictly and highly confidential. May Almighty Allah come to our rescue, because only Allah can make things stable in this country with His super natural powers.

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