Nigeria police reported On Monday, armed individuals invaded a girls’ boarding school in Kebbi State, resulting in the death of a teacher and the abduction of 25 students.
As per daily trust The Nigerian Government Girls’ Comprehensive Senior High School (GGCSS) is situated in a community that has recently experienced several violent incidents.
Witnesses shared that the assailants arrived around 5 a.m. local time, overwhelming the school’s defenses. The victim was reportedly the principal.
A local resident expressed sorrow, saying, “He was killed trying to shield the students from the attackers. It’s a significant loss for both the community and the school.”
Local police verified the incident and dispatched “tactical forces” to confront the attackers, but the heavily armed group managed to fend off law enforcement and escape with the 25 students.
According to nigerian vanguard The report indicates that the attackers came in large numbers, wielding advanced firearms. The slain staff member was identified as the assistant principal, and there were reports of several “unidentified bodies” on the premises post-incident.
Police officials conveyed that Chief Bello Sani is striving to eliminate the threats in the region while also ensuring the safety of the abducted students. The deputy governor of Kebbi, Senator Umar Tafida, is said to be heading to Maga to assess the situation firsthand.
According to local residents, there was a sense of confusion regarding how the attackers could breach the school’s fence, abduct students, and escape, particularly with multiple military checkpoints nearby, one of which is less than a kilometer away.
Community leaders have claimed that the military was alerted about the potential attack but had “withdrawn” before it occurred, leaving police to handle the situation. There has been no response from Nigeria’s military regarding this matter.premium times.
The BBC noted that this incident represents the first large-scale school kidnapping since an earlier event in March 2024, when over 200 students were taken from a school in Kuriga, Kaduna State.
“In the past decade, schools in northern Nigeria have become regular targets for armed factions, who frequently orchestrate kidnappings to extort ransoms or negotiate with the government,” reported the BBC.
These incidents are typically attributed to “bandits” by both Nigerian authorities and the media; their true identities can vary from profit-driven criminal gangs to jihadist groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Boko Haram was responsible for the well-known incident in 2014, during which nearly 300 girls were abducted from the Chibok Girls’ School in the northern Borno state. Currently, over 90 of those victims remain unaccounted for. Some who were rescued reported being coerced into “marriages” and conversions to Islam. Nigeria’s government has faced long-standing criticism over its insufficient efforts to recover the girls.
According to premium times a local source associated with the State Security Agency suggested that the kidnappers may be linked to a notorious bandit group led by Dogo Jide or Farand.
Dogo Gide is reported that Farrand is recognized for executing large-scale kidnapping schemes. Farrand’s leader was killed during a gun battle with Nigerian troops at the Kebbi state border in April 2024.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a human rights advocacy group, criticized the mass kidnapping on Monday, accusing the federal government of failing to adequately protect its citizens.
“We urge the security agencies, the Armed Forces, the State Department, and the Nigeria Police Force to promptly implement strategies to pursue the terrorists, rescue the students, and bring the abductors to justice,” Huriwa stated.
“Furthermore, we call on the government to establish strong and sustainable security and intelligence measures nationwide to prevent the recurrence of this distressing crime against students,” the organization added, emphasizing that despite significant government funding for school security and intelligence, kidnappers continue to operate with impunity.
