Instructor Fatally Shot and 25 Girls Abducted in Firefight at School in Nigeria
Armed assailants have fatally shot an educator and kidnapped no fewer than 25 pupils in an raid targeting a female high school in north-western Nigeria, according to police.
The gang of attackers breached the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State's Maga area at around 4 AM local time on the beginning of the work week, officials stated.
The armed individuals "exchanged fire with security forces on duty in a shootout" before climbing over the boundary wall and taking the pupils captive from their living quarters, according to a statement.
An educational worker was lost their life while safeguarding the students. An additional employee received firearm injuries and is now being treated medically.
Witnesses reported a large group of attackers, referred to locally as criminal elements, who appeared discharging weapons intermittently to generate terror.
Local residents disclosed to media that the armed men then led a number of girls into nearby bushland.
The police said they had deployed "supplementary tactical squads, alongside military personnel and community security teams" to the area.
A coordinated search and rescue operation is currently ongoing in nearby woodlands and potential getaway paths.
In the last several years, schools in northern Nigeria have increasingly been targeted for militant organizations, who routinely perform seizures to seek ransom payments or leverage deals with the government.
The incident in Kebbi State emphasizes the ongoing security challenge afflicting the area, causing relatives in Maga in a situation of anxious fatigue as they wait and hope for their daughters' safe return.
Security crisis in Nigeria's northern territories has intensified significantly in the last several months, with schools bearing the brunt of the violence.
Important Details
- Weapon-carrying assailants stormed a girls' school in the northwestern part of Nigeria
- An educator lost their life while defending pupils
- A minimum of 25 young women were kidnapped from their dormitory
- Security forces have initiated a recovery mission in adjacent locations
- Learning center raids have escalated in regularity in northern Nigeria