Gunmen kidnap students, teachers in Niger State school

Some students and teachers of the Government Science College Kagara in Niger State staff quarters have been kidnapped.

Multiple reports said gunmen stormed the school around 2:00 am on Wednesday, with sporadic gunshots.

One student was feared killed by the shooting.

“Bandits went into GSC Kagara last night and kidnapped hundreds of students and their teachers,” said an official told AFP.

“One of the kidnapped staff and some students managed to escape. The staff confirmed a student was shot dead during the kidnap operation,” the official added.

A former senator and former student of the school, Shehu Sani, also said the principal of the school confirmed the abduction.

Sani said the bandits abducted some students and staff of the school.

While the school has about 1,000 students, the number of students kidnapped is still not unknown. But a headcount was underway.

PRNigeria reported that security agencies were able to detect the coordinate and nature of the area, and have started tracing the bandits’ movement while NAF aircraft have been seen hovering in the air to track the location of the students.

The latest abduction came 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 have increasingly been targeted by “bandits” who kidnap for ransom, rape and pillage.