Police in Nigeria have confirmed that a group of unidentified gunmen killed one person and abducted students following an attack on a school in the state of Niger.

Adamu Usman, police chief in Niger state, told Xinhua news agency late Sunday that the attack took place earlier in the day in the Salihu Tanko Islamiya School in Tegina town. A large number of the gunmen on motorcycles stormed the town, shooting indiscriminately and killing one resident in the process, said Usman.

He, however, declined to give the exact number of students kidnapped during the attack. Local media reported over 200 students were kidnapped.

The school is an unconventional one where parents send their children on a daily basis for the purpose of acquiring Islamic education, according to the local broadcaster Channels Television.

Niger police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun told Xinhua that the security agency is yet to ascertain how many children were abducted from the school. An investigation has been launched to that effect.