A quiet, pre-dawn darkness at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, was shattered by the sounds of forced doors, Fulani speech, and gunshots, leaving two families shattered and an entire community gripped by fear following the abduction of dozens of schoolgirls.
The bandits, described by witnesses as being dressed in army camouflage, executed a brutal assault on the school in the early hours of Monday, murdering the Vice Principal and a security guard before seizing the students.
Through tears that choked her voice, the widow of the slain security guard recounted the horrifying final moments of her husband’s life. She described being awoken by a strange noise around 4 a.m.
“I tapped my husband in a bid to wake him up from sleep, telling him that goats had entered our house,” she said. “He woke up and walked out of the room, only to see heavily armed men.”
Terror immediately took hold. “When we saw them, we began to pray in the Islamic way. While doing that, they shot my husband straight in the chest. He fell and blood began to rush,” she narrated, her voice breaking. “When I attempted to cover the hole to stop blood from gushing, they cocked their guns and warned me to stop else they would kill me too.”
The violence then threatened to claim their daughter. “That was when our daughter came out of the room. They took her to the hostel and asked her to lie down so they could shoot her,” the mother said. “She begged them to allow her ease herself, so they left and went after other students. It was then she ran into the bush in the dead of the night till daybreak before she got to safety and returned home. That was how she managed to escape.”
In a separate attack on the school compound, Malama Amina, the wife of the murdered Vice Principal, gave a similarly chilling account. She confirmed the assailants were Fulani speakers.
“They forced the door open and woke him, asked him to say his last prayers. While doing it, they shot him at close range and he died immediately,” she stated.
After executing the two men, the bandits moved to the Adamu Aliero Hostel, where they seized the schoolgirls. Witnesses said the armed men issued a stark warning to the terrified students, threatening to kill any girl who attempted to hide.
The precise number of abducted girls remains a point of contention. While some local sources claim 27 students were taken, the Kebbi State Police Command has officially confirmed the abduction of 25 schoolgirls.
The tragedy prompted a swift, high-level response. Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, cut short a trip to visit the scene on Tuesday, accompanied by the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Waidi Shuaibu.
Addressing journalists at the school, a resolute Governor Idris pledged that the state government would ensure the safe return of the students. “Take me by my words, your children will be rescued very soon,” he declared.
The Kebbi State Police Command, in a statement issued by its Public Relations Officer, CSP Nafiu Abubakar, confirmed the deployment of a joint rescue team. “A rescue team comprising the army, police and vigilantes has been raised to rescue the abducted girls,” Abubakar stated.
Echoing the governor’s commitment, the Chief of Army Staff, General Shuaibu, offered assurances to the distraught parents and the nation. He affirmed that the military was acting on a presidential directive.
“The presidential order on the rescue operations is on course and will soon materialise,” General Shuaibu added. “We assure the parents, people of Kebbi State and the Federal Government that within a short time, the army will rescue the girls unhurt.”
As the security operations continue, the community in Maga is left to mourn its dead and pray for the safe return of its children, their lives irrevocably scarred by a night of profound violence.
