A student wearing a protective face mask washes her hands, as schools reopen in Nigeria amid the coronavirus-disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Abuja, Nigeria January 18, 2021. (Photo: Agencies)

The Nigerian police said on Friday they were launching aerial surveillance to search for the schoolgirls who were kidnapped in the country's northwestern state of Zamfara.

A total of 317 students from the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe town of Zamfara were abducted in the early hours of Friday.

Calling the incident "barbaric and callous," a spokesperson for the police said two surveillance helicopters had been deployed to ensure the success of the ongoing operation to rescue them.