Armed Men Kill Vice Principal, Abduct 25 Girls In Kebbi state

Armed assailants stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, on Monday, killing a teacher and abducting at least 25 students in one of the most serious school attacks in northern Nigeria in recent months.

Police said the attackers, described as a gang of armed bandits, invaded the school around 4:00 a.m. local time, engaging security personnel in a gunfight before breaching the perimeter fence and seizing students from their hostel. One staff member — Vice Principal Malam Hassan Yakubu Makuku — was shot dead while attempting to protect the girls, and another member of staff sustained injuries and is receiving treatment.

Eyewitnesses reported that a large number of gunmen arrived firing sporadically, creating chaos before leading several students into nearby bushland.

Security agencies have deployed additional police tactical units, soldiers, and vigilante groups to launch a coordinated search-and-rescue operation across surrounding forests and suspected escape routes. Defense Minister Bello Mohammed Matawalle said the government has ordered an urgent response to secure the girls’ safe return.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, expressed solidarity with families of the abducted students, assuring them that the government is committed to bringing the girls home unharmed.

This abduction is the first major school kidnapping since March 2024, when more than 200 pupils were taken from Kuriga in Kaduna State. Over the past decade, northern Nigeria has faced repeated school attacks carried out by armed groups seeking ransom or leverage in dealings with authorities. While the government has banned ransom payments, the threat of kidnappings remains severe.

Children’s rights organizations say hundreds of students have been kidnapped since Boko Haram’s infamous 2014 abduction of 276 girls from Chibok. Rural schools remain particularly vulnerable, with rights groups warning that abductions often precede further abuses, including forced recruitment and sexual violence.

The attack in Maga has left families devastated as the search for the missing students intensifies.