Educator Slain and 25 Female Students Kidnapped in Firefight at School in Nigeria
Weapon-carrying attackers have killed a teacher and abducted at least 25 students in an assault against a girls' secondary school in Nigeria's northwestern region, police reports indicate.
The armed faction breached the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in the Maga locality within Kebbi State at approximately 04:00 local time on the start of the week, police confirmed.
The armed individuals "exchanged fire with security forces on duty in a shootout" before breaching the school's outer barrier and abducting the learners from their hostel, according to a statement.
An educational worker was killed while trying to protect the students. A second sustained gunshot wounds and is now receiving treatment.
Eyewitnesses described a sizeable number of assailants, known locally as bandits, who appeared discharging weapons intermittently to create fear.
Community members disclosed to media that the gunmen subsequently marched a number of girls into surrounding rural areas.
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 last several years, educational institutions in Nigeria's north have become frequent targets for weapon-carrying factions, who frequently execute kidnappings to demand financial compensation or secure advantages in discussions with officials.
The attack in Kebbi State emphasizes the ongoing security challenge afflicting the area, resulting in households in Maga in a condition of terrified weariness as they expect and desire their daughters' safe return.
Protection challenge in Nigeria's northern territories has intensified significantly in the past few months, with schools bearing the brunt of the violence.
Key Points
- Weapon-carrying assailants stormed a girls' school in the northwestern part of Nigeria
- One teacher was killed while protecting students
- At least 25 female students were abducted from their hostel
- Security forces have launched a rescue operation in surrounding areas
- School attacks have escalated in regularity in the northern part of the country
