Nigeria: Local vigilantes rescue schoolchildren in fresh incident of abduction

Dozens of schoolchildren were rescued by local vigilantes in northern Nigeria after they were abducted by bandits. The children were rescued after a gunbattle. The incident took place in Katsina state. The gunmen had abducted about 80 children on Saturday after they returned to Mahuta village after attending religious ceremony.

The incident came barely 48 hours after the release of 344 schoolboys who were kidnapped from a boarding school.

These boys were kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School in northwestern Nigeria on December 11 and were held captive in Rugu Forest, a huge woodland area. They were given little food and had to drink water from forest's pools. 

Nigerian security forces rescued the children on December 17.

(With AFP inputs)