KADUNA: At least 27 students were abducted today (Wednesday) when armed men raided a state-run school in Niger State, north-west Nigeria, the state governor’s spokeswoman said.
The gunmen, wearing military fatigues according to witnesses, stormed the Government Science college in the Kagara district at around 2 a.m., overwhelming the school’s security detail. One student was killed during the abduction, according to a resident.
The tally of people abducted from the boarding school facility could also rise as an unknown number of teachers are still missing, the spokeswoman for the Niger state governor told an international news channel.
The state governor ordered the immediate closure of boarding schools in the area. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack. President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the raid and dispatched security chiefs to coordinate rescue operations.
Militant group Boko Haram and a branch of Islamic State are active in northern Nigeria, but kidnappings by other armed groups – mostly for ransom – are also common.
Gunmen also stormed a secondary school in northwestern Katsina state two months ago and kidnapped nearly 350 boys, who were subsequently rescued by security forces. Such attacks have raised concerns about rising violence by insurgents and armed gangs and fuelled widespread criticism of Buhari’s handling of national security.
