Gunmen suspected to be bandits have abducted more than 300 girls at Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe in Talata-Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
A staff of the school who begged for anonymity said, the bandits arrived in the school around 1am with Hilux vehicles and motorcycles where they forcefully evacuated the students.
He disclosed that some of the bandits were in uniforms and pretended to be security personnel, then later broke into the student’s hostels and abducted more than 300 students.
The Zamfara abduction is coming about eight days after gunmen kidnapped dozens of students and workers of Government Science College in Kagara, Niger State.
The father of one of the abducted girls, Alhaji Bello Maikusa Jangebe, told BBC Hausa Service, an unpleasant sound of guns had woken up the entire people in the town at around 1:30am Friday.
“We thought they had come to attack residents as they usually do, unfortunately, this time around, they aimed at the students and abducted about 327 of them, later we noticed that only a few of the students were left behind”, Maikusa narrated.
According to him, some members of the community said, the bandits drove the abducted female students towards the direction of Wuya forest under Maru local government area, one of the most dangerous axes the high profile criminals long occupied.
An account by a guardian to an abducted girl simply identified as Malam Sa’idu Kwairo, said the gunmen drove into the town well armed in about seven Hilux vehicles shooting sporadically aimed at discouraging any resistance.
“We could hear the helpless voices of the abducted girls screaming for help amidst unpleasant sounds of various dangerous rifles, as we noticed they have come to abduct the students in the school”, Kwairo added.
Contacted for comment, the Spokesperson of the Zamfara State Police Command, SP Shehu Muhammad, said the Police were preparing a statement on the incident.
Meanwhile, the Zamfara State Government has confirmed the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in the Talata-Mafara Local Government Area of the state.
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The confirmation was made by the Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran in a brief interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Gusau on Friday.
The abductors in their hundreds invaded the town and took away the students about 2 am.
“I can confirm to you now that we have sadly received the report on the abduction of the students of GGSS Jangebe and right now, I am on my way to the school.
At this moment, l cannot say how many students were taken away by the gunmen until l get there, but we have already mobilized security men and members of the vigilante who are now in pursuit of the abductors,” the commissioner stated.
A staff of the school who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity said, “The gunmen in their hundreds invaded the town around 2 am on Friday, shot sporadically in the air to scare the residents before coming into the school.
“After taking away most of the students, we rounded up those that escaped or hid from the bandits and conducted a census where we counted 54 students and we are still searching to see if we can get more.”
Also, a resident who gave his name as Haliru Jangebe said the local vigilantes had tried to repel the invaders but were overpowered.
“The bandits were too many and they all seemed to be carrying heavy arms as we heard gunshots from all parts of the town and when the shots stopped, we heard that the students had been taken away.”
A staff of the school who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “the gunmen in their hundreds invaded the town around 2 a.m on Friday, shot sporadically in the air to scare the residents before coming into the school.
“After taking away most of the students, we rounded up those that escaped or hid from the bandits and conducted a census where we counted 54 students and we are still searching to see if we can get more,” he said.
Also, a resident who gave his name as Haliru Jangebe, said ihat the local vigilantes had tried to repel the invaders but were overpowered.
“The bandits were too many and they all seemed to be carrying heavy arms as we heard gunshots from all parts of the town and when the shots stopped, we heard that the students had been taken away,” he said.
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