Hundreds of schoolgirls are feared to have been kidnapped in the north-western state of Zamfara.

A teacher told the BBC that at least 300 students were unaccounted for after the Friday morning attack by gunmen.

A spokesman for the state’s governor has confirmed the attack but did not give details.

This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom.

At least 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped last week in Kagara, in the neighboring Niger state, are yet to be released.

In December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped by gunmen in Kankara in Katsina state and later released after negotiations.

But the 2014 kidnap of 276 schoolgirls in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Islamist militants Boko Haram brought global attention to the mounting security challenges Nigeria was facing.