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Nigerian Student Hears Captors Ask, 'Should We Release or Kill Them?'

Sani Malumfashi

   KANKARA, KASINA STATE, NIGERIA - Marching at gunpoint in a forest in
   Nigeria's northern Katsina state, Usama Aminu Mali wondered whether he
   and hundreds of other abducted schoolmates would survive.

   The 18-year-old said he overheard one of his captors ask in a phone
   call, "Sir, should we release or kill them?" The order came through:
   Keep walking. Relieved, Usama kept moving and praying.

   He was rescued Sunday morning, 30-some hours after gunmen on
   motorcycles raided the all-male Government Science Secondary School
   near Kankara town late Friday, kidnapping hundreds of students and
   marching them into the Zango/Paula Forest.

   Katsina state authorities reported approximately 320 remained missing
   Tuesday, the same day the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram claimed
   responsibility for their abduction.

   Katsina's governor, Aminu Bello Masari, said 839 boys were enrolled at
   the school, according to U.S. broadcast network ABC News. It's not
   clear how many students were at the school at the time of the raid, nor
   how many eluded the kidnappers.

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