KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — Gunmen have kidnapped more than 280 pupils during a raid on a school in northwest Nigeria, a teacher and a local resident said, in one of the country’s largest mass abductions.

Local government officials in Kaduna State confirmed the kidnapping attack on Kuriga school on Thursday, but gave no numbers as they said they were still working out how many children had been abducted.

Sani Abdullahi, one of the teachers at the GSS Kuriga school in the Chikun district, said Thursday that staff managed to escape with many students when the gunmen were firing in the air.

“We then began working to determine the actual figure of those kidnapped,” he told local officials visiting the school.

“In GSS Kuriga, 187 children are missing, while in the primary school, 125 children were missing but 25 returned.”

Local resident Muhammad Adam told Agence France-Presse: “More than 280 have been kidnapped. We initially thought the number was 200, but after a careful count it was discovered the children kidnapped are a little more than 280.”

Local officials and police did not give any figures for the number of kidnapped. Often figures of those reported kidnapped or missing in Nigeria are lowered after people fleeing the attack return home.

“As of this moment we have not been able to know the number of children or students that have been kidnapped,” Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani told reporters at the site on Thursday.