Schoolgirls and teachers in north-eastern Nigeria have escaped an attack on a boarding school by Boko Haram jihadists, witnesses say.

They say the militants in pick-up trucks arrived in the town of Dapchi, Yobe state, on Monday evening, shooting and setting off explosives.

Alerted by the noise, staff and students were able to flee.

In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 girls from a school in the north-eastern town of Chibok.

Residents and civilian militia in Dapchi say they believe the jihadists had planned to kidnap schoolgirls in their town too.

After finding the school empty, the militants looted the building.

They say that Nigeria’s security forces – backed by military jets – later repelled the attack.