Fifty girls missing after Boko Haram attack in north east Nigeria

About 50 young women and girls have gone missing since Boko Haram attacked a village in northern Nigeria provoking fears they may have been kidnapped like those from the town of Chibok nearly four years after.

According to a spokesman for the governor in Yobe state, authorities had no credible information that those missing from the village of Dapchi were taken by Boko Haram.

Some witnesses, however, recalled seeing girls being taken by the armed militants of the group that abducted 276 girls from the school in Chibok in April 2014.

I share the anguish of all the parents and guardians of the girls that remain unaccounted for, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari tweeted.

I would like to assure them that we are doing all in our power to ensure the safe return of all the girls.

Armed Boko Haram fighters invaded Dapchi on Monday evening, forcing residents, including students of Government Girls Secondary school, to flee into the bushes.

Police and the state ministry of education had initially denied claims that students were abducted.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Bego said more than 50 of the 926 students were still missing. Earlier reports indicated about 90 were not in class Tuesday, suggesting some had returned within the past 24 hours.

Student Aishatu Abdullahi was among those who escaped on foot and spent the night hiding in an abandoned house.

About 100 of the 276 girls abducted by Boko Haram from Chibok in 2014 are still believed to be with their captors. Some escaped, while others were released as part of negotiations.