Armed assailants have raided a secondary school in northwestern Nigeria, seizing 25 schoolgirls and injuring a staff member, as reported by the police.
The incident occurred at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi state, at approximately 4.00 am local time on Monday, according to law enforcement officials.
The attackers, wielding advanced weaponry, clashed with on-duty police officers in a shootout before breaching the school’s perimeter and abducting twenty-five students from their dormitory to an undisclosed location, stated a police release.
During the assault, the school’s deputy head was fatally shot, and a security guard sustained gunshot wounds, as outlined in a report submitted to the UN.
Authorities have mobilized tactical units, the military, and local vigilantes in the vicinity to search the bandits’ pathways and nearby forests in pursuit of the missing girls and the assailants, known locally as bandits.
Nigeria has been grappling with armed conflicts since the emergence of the Boko Haram group in the northeastern region in 2009, with hostage-taking persisting as a significant issue in northern schools.
In 2014, the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno state garnered global attention and spurred the “#BringBackOurGirls” social media movement. Despite efforts, nearly 100 girls remained unaccounted for till last year.
Moreover, in June 2021, over 100 students and staff members were abducted from a government college in Kebbi state, with students being released gradually over a two-year period following ransom payments raised by parents, with some victims being forced into marriage and others returning with children.
Similarly, in Kaduna state, northwestern Nigeria, gunmen kidnapped 140 boarding pupils from Bethel Baptist School just a month later. The pupils were released in stages as ransom demands were met in the ensuing months.
A report by the charity Save the Children revealed that over 1,680 students were kidnapped from Nigerian schools between early 2014 and the close of 2022.