The students of the Government Science School, Kagara, Niger State, have been abducted by suspected bandits, dressed in Military uniforms, on Tuesday.
This was confirmed by the Former Nigerian Senator, Shehu Sani, via his Twitter handle on Wednesday.
He stated that some staff members of the institution were also abducted by armed men. Noting that he has spoken with the principal of the school, which is also his Alma Mata, about the abduction.
Sani said: ”Early hours of this morning, Armed bandits stormed the Government Science College Kagara Niger State, my alma Mata, and abducted some students and staff family members. I just spoke to the principal. This is the clip of one of my last visits to the School.”
At the time of this report, it has not been confirmed the exact number of students kidnapped, however, some students are said to have escaped after the raid. A headcount was being conducted in the school on Wednesday to ascertain the actual number of missing students.
The news agency also reported that security agencies were able to detect the coordinates of the area the students were taken to, and have started tracing the bandits’ movement while security aircraft have been seen hovering in the air to track the location of the students.
Meanwhile, Niger State Governor Sani Bello has ordered the immediate closure of all boarding schools in four local council areas in the state after students and teachers were kidnapped from Government Science College (GSC) in Kagara.
Bello said boarding schools in Rafi, Munya, Shiroro, and Mariga local government areas will be closed indefinitely because of heightened insecurity.
The latest abduction is coming less than three months after gunmen abducted hundreds of students of Government Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State. The Katsina students were later freed after negotiations.
Niger, Katsina, and many other states in North-west and North-central Nigeria are bedeviled by bandits attacks. The bandits kill and kidnap at will despite the large deployment of police officers and soldiers to the affected states.
