Abducted students of Government Science College Kagara arrive at the state house after being freed in Minna, Niger State, central Nigeria, on February 27, 2021. Photo: VCG

Security forces have foiled an attempt to kidnap hundreds of schoolboys in northwestern Nigeria, a state official said on Sunday, days after dozens of students were seized in the latest mass abduction.

The kidnapping of 39 students on Thursday was the most recent in a string of abductions complicating the security challenges facing President Muhammadu Buhari's security forces, who are also battling a more than decade-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast.

"Between the late hours of Saturday night and the early hours of today, suspected bandits stormed the Government Science Secondary School, Ikara... in an attempt to kidnap students," Samuel Aruwan, state home affairs commissioner said of the foiled attack.

"Fortunately, the students utilized the security warning system in place, and were thus able to alert security forces in the area," he said. 

He said a joint security force, comprising soldiers, policemen and vigilantes, deployed to the school and "engaged the bandits, forcing them to flee."

The military managed to rescue 180 students, including eight staff members, after a fierce battle with the gunmen.

Heavily armed gangs in Nigeria have stepped up attacks in recent years.

They have recently turned their focus to schools, where they kidnap students for ransom - Thursday's abduction was at least the fourth such attack since December.

Aruwan said all 307 students in the school targeted on Saturday had been accounted for after a headcount.

AFP