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One staff member was killed while attempting to protect the students
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Abuja
Armed men have killed a teacher and abducted at least 25 students in an attack on a girls’ secondary school in north-western Nigeria, police have confirmed. The assailants stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, at around 04:00 local time (03:00 GMT) on Monday.
According to a police statement, the attackers “engaged police personnel on duty in a gun duel” before scaling the perimeter fence and taking the students from their hostel.
One staff member was killed while attempting to protect the students, while another sustained gunshot wounds and is currently receiving medical treatment.
Eyewitnesses described a large group of attackers—commonly known as bandits—who arrived firing sporadically to create panic. Residents told the BBC that the gunmen marched several girls into nearby bushland after the attack.
Police said they had deployed “additional police tactical units, alongside military personnel and vigilante groups” to support the ongoing operation. A coordinated search and rescue mission is now underway across surrounding forests and suspected escape routes.
For over a decade, schools in northern Nigeria have been frequent targets of armed groups who carry out mass abductions for ransom or to gain leverage in negotiations with authorities.
This incident marks the first major school abduction since March 2024, when more than 200 pupils were taken from a school in Kuriga, Kaduna State.
The latest attack in Kebbi State underscores the persistent security crisis in the region, leaving families in Maga in a state of fear and uncertainty as they wait anxiously for news of their daughters’ safe return.
Source: BBC
