Weapon-carrying attackers have fatally shot an educator and seized a minimum of 25 learners in an attack on a educational institution for young women in Nigeria's northwestern region, police reports indicate.
The criminal group breached the comprehensive secondary school for girls in the Maga locality within Kebbi State at around 4 AM local time on Monday, police confirmed.
The attackers "confronted officers on duty in a gun duel" before scaling the perimeter fence and abducting the learners from their hostel, authorities disclosed.
An educational worker was killed while trying to protect the students. An additional employee received firearm injuries and is now undergoing medical care.
Eyewitnesses described a sizeable number of assailants, referred to locally as criminal elements, who appeared discharging weapons intermittently to cause panic.
Community members disclosed to media that the armed men then led a contingent of young women into adjacent wilderness.
The authorities announced they had sent "supplementary tactical squads, in coordination with armed forces and local protection units" to the area.
A organized locating and saving mission is underway in surrounding forests and potential getaway paths.
In recent years, learning centers in northern Nigerian regions have become frequent targets for armed groups, who routinely perform seizures to demand financial compensation or leverage deals with the government.
The attack in Kebbi State emphasizes the ongoing security challenge troubling the locality, leaving families in Maga in a situation of anxious fatigue as they expect and desire their young ones' unharmed reappearance.
Safety emergency in Nigeria's northern territories has intensified significantly in recent months, with learning centers suffering the most of the violence.
Essential Information
- Weapon-carrying assailants raided a female educational institution in the northwestern part of Nigeria
- An educator lost their life while safeguarding learners
- At least 25 female students were kidnapped from their dormitory
- Law enforcement have launched a rescue operation in adjacent locations
- School attacks have grown more frequent in Nigeria's northern regions
