Local vigilantes rescued dozens of schoolchildren abducted by bandits in the northern Nigerian state of Katsina after a gun battle, police said yesterday. Gunmen had abducted about 80 children on Saturday as they returned to Mahuta village after having attended a religious ceremony, said police. According to local people, when the news of abduction spread across Mahuta, residents and vigilantes mobilised and went after the kidnappers. They laid siege on the area they knew they were holding the children and made sure the children are released. The incident came barely 48 hours after the release of 344 schoolboys kidnapped from a boarding school by bandits.