Feb. 18 (UPI) -- An assault on a boarding school in Nigeria that killed one person and led to more than 40 kidnappings has again raised suspicions about Boko Haram and drawn a strong rebuke from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The attack occurred on Wednesday at the school in Kagara in north-central Nigeria, officials said.
Authorities said one student was killed and a total of 42 staffers and students were kidnapped.
The state governor said more than 600 students were enrolled at the school.
No group has yet claimed responsibility, but the attack is similar to others in the past carried out by the Boko Haram terror group.
The group abducted almost 300 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria, in 2014, many of whom are still missing. Parents of some of those missing girls said last month that they had escaped from the group.
More than 300 schoolboys were abducted in Kanakar in December and later rescued. That abduction was blamed on local bandits.
The Kagara kidnappers demanded a ransom, which the government has refused to pay, saying the attackers would only use the money to buy more weapons and cause more harm.
Thursday, Guterres' office called the attacks on schools in Nigeria "abhorrent and unacceptable."
"The secretary-general urges the Nigerian authorities to spare no efforts in rescuing those abducted and holding to account those responsible for this act," a spokesperson said.
