KanKara – – Hundreds of boys are missing after bandits armed with assault rifles attacked a secondary school in Nigeria’s north-western Katsina state late on Friday.
The gunmen stormed the Government Science secondary school in Kankara district at about 9.40pm, and police at the scene returned fire, allowing some students to run for safety, police spokesman Gambo Isah said in a statement.
Police said they were working with the army and air force to determine how many pupils were missing or kidnapped, and to find them. One officer was shot and wounded in the exchange of fire with the gang, they said.
The attackers arrived on motorbikes and started shooting into the air, causing people to flee, witnesses said.
They targeted the Secondary School – where more than 800 students are said to reside – in Katsina state on Friday evening.
There were chaotic scenes at the school on Saturday as desperate parents and security personnel gathered to search for about half of the school’s 800 students who were still missing, one parent and a school employee told Reuters.
KATSINA POLICE COMMAND DIARY
Good morning, Gentlemen of the Press, yesterday, 11/12/2020 at about 21:40hrs, Bandits in their numbers, shooting sporadically with AK 47 rifles, attacked Government Science secondary school, Kankara.
The policemen on duty also responded to the attack and engaged them in a gun duel which gave the students opportunity to scale the fence of the school and run for safety. The Dpo reinforced the policemen on duty with Armoured Personnel Carrier, (APC) which forced the hoodlums to retreat back into the forest.
One Inspector sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital and is responding to treatment. In the course of investigation, the DPO rescued over two hundred students back into the school compound.
The police, Nigerian Army, and Nigerian Air Force are working closely with the school authorities to ascertain the actual number of the missing and/or kidnapped students while search parties are assiduously working with a view to find and/or rescue the missing students.
It will be too early to say at this particular moment the actual number of students that have been kidnapped or missing.
PPROSP GAMBO ISAH
POLICE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
Katsina, the home state of Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, is plagued by violent bandits who regularly attack local people and kidnap for ransom. Attacks by Islamist militants are common in north-eastern parts of the country.
Buhari himself is currently in the state, as he went there recently for a 1 week break.
Violence and insecurity across Nigeria have enraged citizens, particularly after scores of farmers were killed – some beheaded – by Islamist militants in the north-eastern Borno state late last month.
General Muhammadu Buhari, who arrived on Friday for a week in his home village some 200km (125 miles) from Kankara, was scheduled to brief the national assembly on the security situation last week, but cancelled the appearance without official explanation.
On Saturday, the military said it had located the gunmen’s hideout in a forest and exchanged gunfire with them.
The outcome was unclear but officials said there were no reports of students being injured.
Buhari Condemns Katsina School Attack
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday condemned the bandits’ attack on a secondary school in Katsina.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly bandits’ attack on innocent children at the Science School, Kankara,” he said in a statement. “Our prayers are with the families of the students, the school authorities and the injured.”
He ordered the school to carry out a full audit of students to find out how many are missing.
Several local residents on Saturday said they had joined the police in searching for the students who remained missing, while many parents said they had withdrawn their children from the school.
“The school is deserted, all the students have vacated,” one witness, Nura Abdullahi, told AFP news agency.
“Some of the students who escaped returned to the town this morning, but others took a bus home,” he added.
In 2014, more than 270 girls were kidnapped by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram from a school in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Chibok.
No group has yet said it carried out the raid on the school in Katsina, which is far from Boko Haram’s usual area of operation in the north-east.
Meanwhile, as source told Nigerian Tribune that 600 out of the 800 students were not accounted for by the school authorities.
The source however said it could not be ascertained how many of the students were actually kidnapped, saying some of them could have fled into the bush or nearby homes when the kidnappers arrived the school around 9.30 p.m.
According to the source, the school has over 800 students, with the exception of JS3 and SS3 students who are now out of school.
He said so far, 600 students are yet to return to the school several hours after the attack. “We are still hoping that some of them might return. We believe some of them fled the attack and ran into the bush,” he said
Abducted Katsina Students: Military Has Located Bandits’ Enclave ― Presidency
On Saturday, the military said it had located the gunmen’s hideout in a forest and exchanged gunfire with them.
According to a statement issued Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), the military has now located the hideout of the bandits responsible for the abduction and had engaged them in an exchange of fire.
“In the latest briefing received by the President from Governor Aminu Bello Masari, with whom he has been in touch, and the Army Chief of Staff, General Tukur Buratai, the military, supported by air power has located the bandits’ enclave at Zango/Paula forest in Kankara and there have been exchange of fire in an ongoing operation. Police said so far, there has not been reported any student casualty,” the statement informed.
It said the President has directed the reinforcement of security of all schools in line with the safe schools policy of the administration.
Katsina shuts all public schools after mass abduction of students
The Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, on Saturday, ordered the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools in the state following the abduction of many students by gunmen in Kankara Local Government Area.
The governor gave the directive while visiting the council area where gunmen abducted an unspecified number of students of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, on Friday.
“The situation goes beyond one’s thinking. It’s a sad moment for Katsina, I am assuring parents of the missing students we will do anything humanly possible to rescue the children, it’s our responsibility to protect lives and properties.
“As I am speaking to you now, the soldiers are in the bush engaging the militants in a fire fight, I plead with you to exercise patience, we will rescue the children and I also ordered for the closure of all schools to save the children,” the governor said.
The governor further assured that both governments at federal and state levels were doing their best to bring an end to banditry and other debilitating criminal activities in the state. He said the government is very firm in its resolve to be ruthless in any engagement with the militants.
Residents said the gunmen had earlier attacked Kankara town, injuring many residents but were later repelled by the security forces.
They, thereafter, went away with many students.
No One Can Ascertain Number Of Students Kidnapped Yet, Says Katsina Governor
Again, Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari on Saturday said no one can yet ascertain the number of students who were kidnapped after bandits raided a secondary school in the state.
The staff said there were 884 students in the school at the time of the attack.
Speaking with reporters on Saturday, the Governor said 426 students have been counted as safe.
“This incidence has gone beyond imagination,” the Governor said in Hausa.
“For us, it’s highly worrisome and disturbing; I am assuring parents and guardians of these children that – we couldn’t say that we are more disturbed than them – but to be rest assured that we share the same worry with them. Because we know that we have the responsibility to protect their lives and their health.”
The Governor said he has met with the army who informed him they are on top of the situation as efforts intensify to locate the bandits.
“And by God’s grace, we will do all that it takes to rescue the entire abducted students,” Masari said. “I urge you people in the name of Allah and his prophet to please remain patient and intensify prayers.
“This is because sharing blames and all sorts of abuses are not the solution in this trying time. Honestly speaking, we are not enjoying what is taking place and we are not executing what we supposed to do when it comes to the issue of protection of lives of our people.
“We want to assure you that we will do all what is possible on the school children as we have directed for the immediate closure of all schools in the state and that all students should be taken back home.”
