At least 30 students abducted from forestry college in Kaduna, Nigeria

Gunmen in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria have kidnapped around 30 students overnight from a forestry college near a military academy.

It is the fourth mass school abduction since December.

Kaduna state’s security commissioner, Samuel Aruwan has confirmed the students were abducted from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Mando, in Kaduna but did not say how many students had been taken.

"The police and the military are on top of the situation. We are trying to liaise with the school management to know the exact number of students that were abducted and then see the possibility of rescuing them unhurt and arresting the perpetrators," Kaduna police spokesman Mohammed Jalige said.

Some residents described the aftermath of the attack saying they " saw some of the students, teachers and security personnel all over the school premises and told us that gunmen raided the school and abducted some of the students.”

On Friday morning, relatives of students gathered at the gates of the college, which was surrounded by around 20 army trucks..

Criminal gangs, often locally referred to as "bandits" have increasingly been involved in kidnappings, across central and northern Nigeria.

In response to the recent mass kidnapping of 279 schoolgirls in Zamfara state, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered security agents "to shoot any person or persons seen carrying AK-47s in any forest in the country."

Buhari also directed a ban on all mining activities in Zamfara State, as well as the imposition of a no-fly zone over the state.