Nigerian authorities have rescued 287 children after they were abducted from school two weeks ago.
The kidnappers demanded $690,000 for their release and threatened that if the money was not transferred by Wednesday they would kill the children.
The kidnapping, which comes as part of a stream of kidnappings in the region over the past few years, has caused Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to promise that he would never transfer so much as a penny to the kidnappers.
Nigeria has not disclosed whether or not the ransom was paid, or if the children were rescued by other means.
Local media reports that at least 100 of those kidnapped were under the age of 12.
Two weeks ago, the kidnappers succeeded in kidnapping 300 children, but some of them managed to escape. One of them, Abdullahi Osaman, a 14-year-old boy, recounted ‘’Children who refuse to go fast were forced onto motorcycles or frightened with gunshots in the air.”
Nura Ahmed, who teaches at the school where the kidnapping occurred, commented ‘’They surrounded the school and blocked all the exits and roads to prevent outside assistance from reaching them. Afterward, they took the children outside, in a process that lasted less than five minutes in total.’’