In brief
In a harrowing incident at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State, Nigeria, armed attackers killed a teacher and abducted 25 students. This attack took place early in the morning as assailants engaged in a gun duel with police before breaching the school's perimeter. The local community, devastated and fearful, is awaiting news of their daughters amid a coordinated search and rescue operation. This incident underscores the alarming trend of school attacks in northern Nigeria, which have become a means for armed groups to engage in ransom schemes and instill terror.
Armed men have killed a teacher and abducted at least 25 students in an attack on a girls' secondary school in north-western Nigeria, police say.
The gang invaded the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, at around 04:00 local time. The attackers engaged police personnel on duty in a gun duel before scaling the perimeter fence and seizing students from their hostel.
One staff member was killed while trying to protect the students, and another sustained gunshot wounds and is receiving treatment.
Eyewitnesses described a large group of attackers, known locally as bandits, who arrived firing sporadically to create panic. Residents reported that the gunmen subsequently marched several of the girls into nearby bushland.
The police have deployed additional tactical units, military personnel, and vigilante groups to the area, and a coordinated search and rescue operation is underway in surrounding forests and suspected escape routes.
In recent years, schools in northern Nigeria have become frequent targets for armed groups, who often carry out abductions to seek ransom payments or leverage deals with the government. This attack highlights the persistent security crisis troubling the region, leaving families in a state of fearful exhaustion as they await news of their daughters' safe return.
