Instructor Fatally Shot and 25 Girls Abducted in Firefight at School in Nigeria
Armed assailants have taken the life of an instructor and seized a minimum of 25 learners in an assault against a female high school in north-western Nigeria, authorities have confirmed.
The criminal group breached the comprehensive secondary school for girls in Kebbi State's Maga area at around 4 AM local time on the beginning of the work week, police confirmed.
The assailants "engaged police personnel on duty in a firefight" before scaling the perimeter fence and taking the pupils captive from their dormitory, an official report indicated.
An educational worker was fatally shot while defending the students. An additional employee received firearm injuries and is now undergoing medical care.
Eyewitnesses described a sizeable number of assailants, known locally as bandits, who came shooting randomly to cause panic.
Community members told reporters that the attackers afterwards forced a group of female students into surrounding rural areas.
The law enforcement confirmed they had positioned "supplementary tactical squads, in coordination with armed forces and community security teams" to the area.
A organized locating and saving mission is presently taking place in adjacent wooded areas and believed flight corridors.
In recent years, schools in northern Nigeria have become frequent targets for weapon-carrying factions, who frequently execute kidnappings to seek ransom payments or secure advantages in discussions with officials.
The assault in Kebbi State highlights the persistent security crisis troubling the locality, leaving families in Maga in a situation of anxious fatigue as they anticipate and pray for their daughters' safe return.
Safety emergency in Nigeria's northern territories has worsened considerably in the last several months, with schools bearing the brunt of the conflict.
Key Points
- Gun-wielding individuals attacked a school for young women in north-western Nigeria
- An instructor was fatally shot while safeguarding learners
- No fewer than 25 girl pupils were abducted from their hostel
- Protection agencies have launched a rescue operation in nearby regions
- School attacks have escalated in regularity in Nigeria's northern regions
