Bandits Abduct 25 Schoolgirls in Kebbi, Kill Vice Principal in Latest Attack on Nigeria’s Schools

At least 25 students of the Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS) in Maga, Kebbi State, were abducted on Sunday night after armed bandits attacked the school located in the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area. The attackers also killed the school’s Vice Principal, Malam Hassan Makuku, during the operation.

Sources in the community said the gunmen invaded the school late in the night and operated without resistance. Witnesses reported that Makuku was shot while attempting to shield students from the attackers, who moved through the premises and forced several girls into waiting vehicles before escaping into nearby forested areas.

Residents described the scene as chaotic, with families rushing to the school overnight as news of the attack spread. 

Confirming the incident, the Chief Press Secretary to the Kebbi State Governor, Ahmed Idris, said the Deputy Governor, Senator Umar Tafida, had been directed to visit the school and assess the situation. “The governor is not in the state for now, but his deputy will go on his behalf until he returns at any moment from now,” Idris said. While the deputy governor is yet to make the promised visit, families in the community are awaiting official updates on the fate and whereabouts of the abducted girls.

The Maga abduction adds to the growing list of attacks targeting educational institutions across northern Nigeria over the past decade. In February 2021, 317 schoolgirls were taken from the Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe, in Zamfara State. That same month, gunmen raided the Government Science College in Kagara, Niger State, abducting 41 people, including 27 students, teachers, and family members.

Only months earlier, in December 2020, 303 students were kidnapped from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State. In 2018, 110 students were abducted from the Government Girls Science Technical College in Dapchi.

These incidents follow the infamous 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, which marked the beginning of a sharp rise in mass kidnappings of students. In the years since, more than 1,600 students have been kidnapped and nearly 200 killed across Nigeria’s northern regions.

Reports from the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) show a persistent trend. In 2020 alone, at least six attacks on higher education institutions, students, and staff were recorded. By 2021, the figure for attacks on school students, teachers, and personnel rose to 14, with most incidents concentrated in the North-Central and North-West. Despite the 2022 federal ban on ransom payments, kidnapping for ransom continues to increase.

Security analysts say the repeated assaults on schools reflect the vulnerability of education infrastructure, inadequate protection in rural areas, and the expanding operations of armed groups who target students for ransom or political pressure.

As of Monday evening, security agencies had not yet released information on ongoing rescue operations in Kebbi State. Parents and local residents continue to gather around the school, hoping for news.