Instructor Fatally Shot and Two Dozen Pupils Seized in Firefight at School in Nigeria
Weapon-carrying attackers have taken the life of an instructor and kidnapped no fewer than 25 pupils in an raid targeting a educational institution for young women in the northwestern part of Nigeria, according to police.
The criminal group invaded the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in the Maga locality within Kebbi State at approximately 04:00 local time on Monday, authorities reported.
The armed individuals "engaged police personnel on duty in a gun duel" before climbing over the boundary wall and seizing the students from their living quarters, authorities disclosed.
An educational worker was killed while trying to protect the students. A second sustained gunshot wounds and is now being treated medically.
Observers recounted a large group of attackers, identified in the area as outlaw groups, who came shooting randomly to create fear.
Community members told reporters that the attackers afterwards forced a contingent of young women into nearby bushland.
The law enforcement confirmed they had positioned "extra specialized police forces, together with army members and community security teams" to the area.
A coordinated search and rescue operation is underway in surrounding forests and believed flight corridors.
In recent years, schools in northern Nigeria have regularly come under attack for militant organizations, who frequently execute kidnappings to demand financial compensation or leverage deals with the government.
The assault in Kebbi State highlights the persistent security crisis troubling the locality, leaving families in Maga in a state of fearful exhaustion as they anticipate and pray for their children's secure homecoming.
Protection challenge in northern Nigeria has intensified significantly in the past few months, with educational institutions bearing the brunt of the unrest.
Important Details
- Armed attackers raided a female educational institution in north-western Nigeria
- One teacher was killed while safeguarding learners
- A minimum of 25 young women were abducted from their hostel
- Security forces have launched a rescue operation in surrounding areas
- School attacks have become increasingly common in northern Nigeria
