Search continues for hundreds of kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren

Two mass abductions were the latest in a series of group kidnappings by gunmen

Nigerian security forces continued to search forests and set up roadblocks in the north-west of the country on Sunday, in an attempt to find hundreds of kidnapped schoolchildren, but observers said combing the woodland expanses could take weeks.

More than 280 children aged between seven and 18 were taken from a school in Kuriga on Thursday in one of the biggest mass-abductions in recent months in Nigeria's turbulent north west. A further 15 children were taken in another raid on a school in Sokoto on Saturday.