Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

The Police have assured anxious parents and guardians that its officers have commenced a joint search and rescue operation with the military to rescue the 317 students abducted from Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara State, early Friday morning.

The Police gave the assurance as it confirmed that a total of 317 students were abducted by the gunmen who, according to sources, arrived at the school early Friday morning in large numbers and later used buses and motorcycles to cart the schoolgirls away after fighting off local vigilance group and soldiers.

Shehu Muhammad, the spokesperson for the Zamfara State Police Command said in a statement that the girls were kidnapped around 1:00 am by gunmen who stormed the school located in Talata-Mafara Local Government Area of the state in large numbers.

He added that the police,  working with the military had commenced a joint search and rescue operation with a view to rescuing the 317 students kidnapped by the armed bandits.

“The Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro; the Force Commander Operations Hadarin Daji, Major General Aminu Bande; Brigade Commander, 1 Brigade, Nigeria Army Gusau and other state government officials led a heavily armed team to Jangebe to complement the ongoing rescue operation in the locations where the students were believed to be taken to.

“The CP, while interfacing with the principal of the school and the parents, appealed to them to be calm as joint efforts of the police and other security agencies will lead to the successful rescue of the students,” the statement read.

The abduction of the students followed the abduction  of over 40 persons made up of staff and students at a Secondary School in Kagara, Niger State about a week ago.

The students are still in custody of their abductors.