Instructor Fatally Shot and Two Dozen Pupils Seized in Armed Clash at School in Nigeria
Armed assailants have taken the life of an instructor and kidnapped no fewer than 25 pupils in an attack on a educational institution for young women in the northwestern part of Nigeria, police reports indicate.
The armed faction stormed the comprehensive secondary school for girls in the Maga locality within Kebbi State at approximately 04:00 local time on the beginning of the work week, authorities reported.
The attackers "engaged police personnel on duty in a gun duel" before scaling the perimeter fence and seizing the students from their living quarters, according to a statement.
A school employee was fatally shot while defending the students. Another staff member suffered bullet injuries and is now undergoing medical care.
Eyewitnesses described a sizeable number of assailants, known locally as bandits, who appeared discharging weapons intermittently to generate terror.
Local residents informed journalists that the attackers afterwards forced a group of female students into adjacent wilderness.
The police said they had deployed "extra specialized police forces, in coordination with armed forces and vigilante groups" to the area.
A coordinated search and rescue operation is presently taking place in adjacent wooded areas and believed flight corridors.
In the past few years, schools in northern Nigeria have regularly come under attack for armed groups, who frequently execute kidnappings to request monetary settlements or gain negotiating power with authorities.
The assault in Kebbi State emphasizes the ongoing security challenge afflicting the area, causing relatives in Maga in a condition of terrified weariness as they wait and hope for their children's secure homecoming.
Safety emergency in Nigeria's northern territories has worsened considerably in recent months, with learning centers suffering the most of the conflict.
Important Details
- Armed attackers stormed a girls' school in north-western Nigeria
- One teacher was killed while protecting students
- At least 25 female students were abducted from their hostel
- Protection agencies have begun a saving effort in adjacent locations
- School attacks have grown more frequent in northern Nigeria
