Gunmen abduct 6 school girls, 2 teachers in Nigeria

At least six schoolgirls and two of their teachers were taken away on Thursday by gunmen who stormed a secondary school in Nigeria's northern state of Kaduna, according to local police.

The gunmen gained entry into the school through a penetrable fence and went straight to the female hostel of the privately-run Engravers College in Kakau Daji town of Chikun local government area, said Yakubu Sabo, the spokesman for the police in Kaduna.

Sabo said two teachers living within the premises were also taken away by the gunmen. Their whereabouts had remained unknown since the incident early Thursday.

"A combined team of police mobile force and anti-kidnapping squad have launched a manhunt of the kidnappers with a view to rescuing the victims and apprehending the culprits," the police spokesman said.

The state of Kaduna, as well as other states in Nigeria's northwest region, had witnessed a series of attacks by armed groups in recent months.