Thread by @Reuters

Usama Aminu was one of the lucky ones. He managed to escape when gunmen abducted more than 300 pupils from his school in northwestern Nigeria reut.rs/3mrehEl 1/5

‘When I decided to run they brought a knife to slaughter me but I ran away quickly,’ Aminu said as he described how he had been in bed at the all-boys school in Kankara when he heard gunshots on Friday night 2/5

The attackers, armed with AK-47s, threatened groups who tried to leave their dormitories at the Government Science secondary school. According to Katsina Governor Aminu Bello Masari on Sunday, 333 students remained missing 3/5

Muhammad Abubakar, 15, was another pupil who got away. He saw a number of boys being rounded up before they were marched out of the school 4/5

The president’s office said the government was in contact with the armed men and was negotiating the release of the boys after security agencies had located them. More here 👇 reuters.com/article/us-nig…

Listen to the unverified audio of Nigeria's Boko Haram claiming responsibility for the kidnapping of more than 300 schoolboys 👇

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1338900377920364544

Last week’s abductions added to growing public anger over violence and insecurity across Africa’s most populous nation.

Here’s an outline of the violence and insecurity affecting Nigeria reut.rs/37jjeL0

The families of the kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys fear time may be running out: Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters reut.rs/3rbi1gP

Protesters marched in northwestern Nigeria under a banner reading #BringBackOurBoys as pressure mounted on the government to improve security in the region and secure the release of more than 300 kidnapped schoolboys reut.rs/37t5ZYk

Parents fear time is running out to bring the boys home. The Islamist group Boko Haram, which has said in an unverified audio message that it was behind their abduction from a school on Dec. 11, has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters

A video circulating on social media purportedly showed Islamist militant group Boko Haram with some of the hundreds of schoolboys kidnapped last week in northwest Nigeria reut.rs/3oZ6YoS

The video, featuring Boko Haram’s emblem, showed a group of boys in a wood begging security forces to leave the area. @Reuters was not able to immediately verify the authenticity of the footage, the boys shown or who released it

A spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari did not immediately respond to a call and messages regarding the video. If its claims are true, Boko Haram’s involvement in northwestern Nigeria marks a geographical expansion in its activities reut.rs/37t5ZYk