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Update: 600 students of Government Science Secondary School Katsina feared kidnapped by armed bandits

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At least 600 out of 800 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State are missing, following attack by armed bandits on Friday night, DAILY NIGERIAN – a Northern Newspaper is reporting.

NewsWireNGR had earlier reported that Armed men stormed Government Science Secondary School in Kankara LGA, Katsina State, northwest Nigeria, and kidnapped dozens of students from their dormitories early today, Saturday.

According to Daily Nigeria, a Schoolteacher who spoke to their reporter on the condition of anonymity said the bandits launched the attack shortly after prep at 9:30pm – the invasion by bandits followed shootings in the air, causing commotion and stampede before scaling over the fence and breaking the gate.

According to him, the school has over 800 students, with the exception of JS3 and SS3 students who are now out of school. In five years, bandits have carried out attacks in Rann, Karewa, Sabon Birni, Dan Amuwa, Dutsin Gari, Zabarmari, Kadisau, Jibia, Sanyinna, Birnin Gwari, Zaria, Batsari, Maru, Zurmi communities, abducting hundreds and killing.

He said, so far 600 students are yet to return to the school several hours after the attack. “We are still hoping that some of them might return. We believe some of them fled the attack and ran into the bush,” he said.

The teacher said the bandits, after gathering the students in one place, shepherded them towards Pauwa village, where they kept dozens of motorcycles.

The state police confirmed the attack to the BBC Hausa on Friday night, but said it had no information on the abduction.

A spokesman for the force, DSP Gambo Isa, told the BBC that more than 200 dispersed students had already been identified and had gone into the bush when gunmen stormed their school.

He added that there was a skirmish between the gunmen and the police which resulted in “one police officer being shot but not dead.”

According to him, more police have been deployed to deal with the gunmen, adding that they are still counting students who have returned to the school from the bush and who have not returned to determine the exact number of those abducted.

NewsWireNGR had earlier reported how, Criminal gangs carrying out robberies and kidnappings have killed hundreds and abducted a hundred more over the last months in Buhari’s home state forcing residents to protest against the state of insecurity.

The Motorcycle-riding armed bandits operating out of abandoned forest reserves are the latest to join Nigeria’s lucrative kidnap for ransom industry, and are quite brazen in their operations.

The borders are porous and the vast forest reserves in the border regions have been turned into operational bases for the bandits.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday left Abuja for his hometown, Daura in Katsina State.

This is not the first time students have been targeted by Nigerian armed groups, on the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students were kidnapped from the Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria.

On February 19, 2018 at 5:30 pm, 110 schoolgirls aged 11–19 years old were kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC). Dapchi is located in Bulabulin, Yunusari Local Government area of Yobe State, also in the northeast part of Nigeria.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Bamidele

    2020/12/12 at 11:10 am

    dont we have intelligence gathering in Nigeria at all by security agencies

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