Kebbi Community in Mourning After Bandits Abduct 25 Girls Kill Vice Principal

Survivors of the Monday dawn attack on Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School Maga in Danko Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State have described the terrifying moments when armed bandits stormed the school killed Vice Principal Hassan Makuku and abducted 25 female students. The assault which happened around 3 a.m. plunged the community into shock as parents teachers and residents gathered at the school searching for answers about the missing girls. Security agencies including the police and the military have since launched a coordinated search and rescue mission.

Eyewitness accounts revealed that the gunmen operated for over an hour without resistance before escaping into the forest with the students. The incident mirrors past mass abductions including the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls and the 2021 Birnin Yauri abduction.

The hostel matron Hajia Maryam Bello who has served nearly twenty years said she sensed trouble when a student cried out shortly after 3 a.m. She saw figures surrounding the hostel while one of the attackers called her by the name students use for her. She locked herself inside her room as the intruders tried to break in with a machete then moved to the girls’ hostel where several students were seized.

Parents recounted distressing scenes. Abubakar said he met his younger daughter outside the hostel trembling but could not find her elder sister Khadija who had been taken away. Another parent Mallam Lawali said his twelve-year-old daughter Hawau was among the abducted children and appealed for immediate government intervention.

The wife of the slain Vice Principal narrated how gunmen broke into their home shot her husband and forced her daughter at gunpoint to lead them to the hostel.

Following the attack Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Waidi Shaibu visited Kebbi and ordered troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA to pursue the abductors relentlessly. He declared that rescue efforts must not fail and urged local vigilantes and hunters to support the military with knowledge of the terrain. Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris vowed to use every resource to recover the students. His Special Adviser Abdullah Idris dismissed claims that security operatives were withdrawn from Maga before the attack saying such rumours were malicious and politically driven.

A combined security team led by Deputy Governor Umar Abubakar Tafida and Secretary to the State Government Yakubu Yauri has begun extensive ground and aerial operations across forests spanning Kebbi and Zamfara. Residents continue to hold prayer sessions as many families sleep outside in fear of renewed attacks.

The Senate condemned the abduction after Senator Yahaya Abdullahi moved a motion that triggered debate on rising insecurity. Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the attack must be treated as a national emergency. Lawmakers including Ahmad Lawan Orji Kalu Victor Umeh and Solomon Lalong warned that repeated attacks on schools threaten an entire generation and demanded immediate government action. The chamber later went into a closed session after a minute of silence for the slain vice principal.

UNICEF the Nigerian Bar Association and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu also condemned the attack. UNICEF said children and schools must never be targets. NBA President Afam Osigwe described the abductions as a national shame and warned that Nigeria is sliding into impunity. He demanded a coordinated rescue mission accountability for collaborators and full implementation of the Safe Schools programme.

Mrs Tinubu said the attack was an assault on education and national values. She conveyed condolences to affected families and reaffirmed that President Bola Tinubu had ordered security agencies to ensure the girls’ swift and safe return. She prayed for divine intervention and for the Vice Principal’s soul to rest in peace.