Gunmen kidnap 25 girls from Nigerian school in Kebbi State

Armed men killed a teacher and kidnapped at least 25 students in an attack on a girls’ secondary school in northwestern Nigeria, police said.

They said the gang invaded the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, at around 04:00 local time (0300 GMT) on Monday.

A statement said the attackers “engaged in a gun battle with police officers on duty” before scaling the fence and snatching the students from their dormitories.

One staff member was killed while trying to protect students. A second person suffered a gunshot wound and is being treated.

Witnesses said a large group of attackers, known locally as bandits, fired sporadically to create panic.

Residents told the BBC that the gunmen then took some of the girls into nearby bushland.

Police said they had deployed “additional police tactical units as well as military personnel and vigilante teams” to the area.

A coordinated search and rescue operation is underway in the surrounding forest and suspected escape routes.

Over the past decade, schools in northern Nigeria have been regularly targeted by armed groups, who often carry out kidnappings for ransom or to make deals with the government.

However, this is the first major school kidnapping incident since March 2024, when more than 200 students were abducted from a school in Kuriga, Kaduna State.

The attack in Kebbi State highlights the ongoing security crisis plaguing the region, leaving Magha’s family in a dire state of exhaustion as they wait for their daughter’s safe return.