Details have emerged on how hundreds of pupils, mostly female, of Government Secondary School (GSS) in Jangebe, Zamfara State, Northwest Nigeria, were kidnapped.
Gunmen numbering over one hundred, it was gathered, stormed the school located in Talata-Mafara local government around 2 a.m on Friday to carry out the operation that lasted for more than one hour.
“The sound of gunshots rented the air immediately they (bandits) arrived. The next we heard was the sound of “Wayo Allah” chorused by the panicky pupils. And, it appeared they took out time for their operation as they made sure more female pupils were picked up for abduction.
“With this, parents of the helpless pupils and the entire community have been thrown into a state of panic and confusion,” an eye witness, Idrissa Jangebe, who spoke with Platforms Africa using Hausa Language, said.
The abductors in their hundreds, he continued, invaded the town and took away the students at about 2 am.
A staff of the school corroborated this view when he spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity; “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.
Confirming the attack, Commissioner for information, Suleiman Anka, in an interview with journalists, stated that the number of abducted students were yet to be ascertained.
Anka added that the school management had embarked on an headcount to determine the number of students held by the gunmen after the attack in the state.
The development is happening against the background of the yet unresolved kidnap of school children and staff of Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, Niger State.
