Instructor Fatally Shot and 25 Girls Abducted in Firefight at Nigerian School
Armed assailants have fatally shot an educator and seized a minimum of 25 learners in an raid targeting a girls' secondary school in north-western Nigeria, police reports indicate.
The gang of attackers invaded the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in the Maga locality within Kebbi State at around 4 AM local time on Monday, authorities reported.
The armed individuals "engaged police personnel on duty in a firefight" before scaling the perimeter fence and taking the pupils captive from their dormitory, authorities disclosed.
One member of staff was lost their life while safeguarding the students. A second sustained gunshot wounds and is now receiving treatment.
Observers recounted a sizeable number of assailants, known locally as bandits, who appeared discharging weapons intermittently to cause panic.
Local residents disclosed to media that the gunmen subsequently marched a number of girls into adjacent wilderness.
The authorities announced they had sent "additional police tactical units, together with army members and vigilante groups" to the area.
A organized locating and saving mission is currently ongoing in nearby woodlands and believed flight corridors.
In the past few years, educational institutions in Nigeria's north have regularly come under attack for militant organizations, who frequently execute kidnappings to request monetary settlements or leverage deals with the government.
The assault in Kebbi State emphasizes the ongoing security challenge plaguing the region, resulting in households in Maga in a situation of anxious fatigue as they anticipate and pray for their daughters' safe return.
Safety emergency in the northern regions of Nigeria has intensified significantly in the past few months, with schools bearing the brunt of the unrest.
Key Points
- Weapon-carrying assailants raided a female educational institution in the northwestern part of Nigeria
- An instructor was fatally shot while protecting students
- No fewer than 25 girl pupils were abducted from their hostel
- Protection agencies have begun a saving effort in adjacent locations
- School attacks have grown more frequent in Nigeria's northern regions
