51�Թ�

The eyewitness said that one pupil was shot by the gunmen and is currently receiving medical attention at the Birnin Gwari hospital.

An advertisement running on local television and radio stations warned people in Zamfara, Katsina and the Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna state to leave the forests in advance of a "heavy bombardment."

An army officer at the military base in the town of Birnin Gwari in Kaduna told Reuters that gunmen on motorbikes used rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy weapons during an attack that lasted more than two hours on Monday evening.

Birnin Gwari shares a border with the states of Zamfara and Niger, which are among the hot spots of armed gangs.

In the latest attack, gunmen on motorcycles stormed the primary school in Rama village in Birnin Gwari local government area as children were arriving for classes in the morning, eyewitnesses told the BBC.