Crime & SecurityNational SecurityNewsNigeriaUPDATE: Abike Dabiri-Erewa Denies Claims That kidnapped Kankara School Boys Are Freed

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The Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) Abike Dabiri-Erewa had swiftly denied earlier claims attributed to her on Thursday that the 333 boys abducted in Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, regained freedom.

 Arise News, before deleting the story on its website, reported that the school boys were being escorted by Nigerian security forces to Katsina State capital to be received by the state Governor Aminu Bello Masari.

Guardian also reports that a similar report was published by The Sun, though Dabiri-Erewa later deleted the tweet.

After deleting the tweet, Dabiri-Erewa initially claimed that the handle that tweeted the information was not hers despite evidence to the contrary.

She later claimed that her account was hacked and was regained from the supposed hacker in less than five minutes.

“Pls don’t credit any post on Katsina boys to my twitter handle,” Dabiri-Erewa tweeted with the same Twitter account she’s denying was not hers.

“I lost control of my handle in the last couple of minutes, along with my Instagram. I have recovered and changed my password.”

Her statement has since elicited anger on Twitter, with many accusing her of being insensitive to the state of the schoolboys abducted by Boko Haram.

Earlier on Thursday, Boko Haram released a video showing that it has custody of the students abducted from a government secondary school in Kankara, Katsina State.

In the six-minute-and-30-second footage, tens of young boys could be seen behind him, all covered in dust and appearing to be within a forest area.

The relatively older schoolboy who spoke urged the Nigerian Government to settle amicably with their abductors and advised against the use of military force in rescuing them.

“Please, you have to dissolve any gang of vigilantes, close any kind of schools, excluding Islamiyyah [Qur’anic schools]. All the troops who have come here to help us, please send them back,” one of the abducted schoolboys pleaded in the released video.

Some parents of the abducted on Wednesday converged on the premises of the school expecting the return of their children as promised by the government.

Their reported release comes six days after they were abducted.

The abduction was initially blamed on bandits, who are active in the unstable region where kidnappings for ransom are common. But Boko Haram said in an audio message that it was responsible for the kidnapping.

Nigeria Army on Monday said it had located the hideout of the men, and that a military operation was under way to rescue them.