Gunmen abducted 136 students from an Islamic school in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger on Sunday, a state official said on Wednesday.

The figure is lower than the estimate of 200 previously offered by the federal government earlier this week.

An armed gang on motorcycles attacked the town of Tegina in Niger state on Sunday, leaving State government officials scrambling in the following days to ascertain the exact number of missing children.

Security forces said the armed men shot two people during the raid, and one had subsequently passed away from their injuries.

Nigeria’s president, in a statement issued late on Monday, said security agents were searching for around 200 students.

Niger state’s deputy governor, Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, told reporters the number of missing children had been established.

“We can now confirm that a total of 136 students were abducted,” Ketso said at a news conference in the state capital, Minna.

Criminal gangs carrying out kidnapping for ransom are blamed for a series of raids on schools and universities in northern Nigeria in recent months in which more than 800 students have been abducted since December.

In February, nearly 300 girls were taken by an armed gang from a school in Zamfara state, while most were later freed.

In 2014, 276 schoolgirls from Chibok were kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram. The incident sparked worldwide condemnation and an online campaign in an attempt to secure the girls’ release. Approximately 100 of the girls are still missing over seven years later.