More than 300 schoolchildren are abducted in Nigeria

ON DECEMBER 11THBBC Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, flew off to take a holiday at his country home in Daura, an ancient seat of Islamic learning in the northern state of Katsina. That night hundreds of gunmen riding on motorbikes stormed a boarding school in Kankara, also in Katsina state. Some schoolboys jumped over a fence and ran away when they heard gunshots. But more than 300 were rounded up and herded into the surrounding forest. One who later escaped told the they were beaten, threatened and forced to walk through the night.It was not immediately clear who the culprits were. Nigeria’s government says that the children were taken by bandits who have demanded a ransom for their release. But Boko Haram, a jihadist group, said it was behind the kidnapping. Both explanations are plausible.