At least 100 of the missing are aged 12 or younger. Gunmen have said the ransom must be paid within days, community leaders said.
Gunmen who kidnapped at least 286 students and staff from a school in Nigeria have demanded one billion naira – the equivalent of £486,000 – for their release, community leaders have said.
The children and adults were abducted last Thursday in Kuriga, a town in Nigeria’s north-western Kaduna State.
At least 100 of the pupils are aged 12 or younger.
Jubril Aminu, a spokesperson for the families of the hostages, said the kidnappers threatened to kill the captives during a phone call on Tuesday.
“They gave an ultimatum to pay the ransom within 20 days, effective from the date of the kidnap,” he said. “They said they will kill all the students and the staff if the ransom demand is not met.”
The ransom demand is the equivalent of more than £1,600 per hostage – which is more than the average income a person in Nigeria earns in a year, according to the International Monetary Fund.