Update: Number Of Students Kidnapped By Bandits In Fresh Kaduna School Attack Revealed

A total of 287 students from the LEA Primary and Secondary School in Kuriga, Kaduna State, were kidnapped on Thursday when bandits attacked the school premises.

This was made known in an update given by the Head Teacher, Sani Abdullahi, who narrated the incident when Governor Uba Sani led senior government officials and security top brass to the Kuriga Village Head’s palace.

As earlier reported by Naija News, bandits struck at the LEA school, triggering chaos and the abduction of numerous individuals, including the school’s head teacher and several other staff members.

The incident occurred at 8:20 a.m. on Thursday, right after the assembly, according to Daily Trust.

Confirming the attack in an update on Thursday evening, Abdullahi said he had been one of the individuals abducted, but managed to break free with a group of students.

The head teacher explained further that a total of 187 students from the high school division and 125 from the elementary division were taken, but fortunately 25 of them managed to escape and make their way back.

He further disclosed that a member of a vigilante group who tried to save the victims tragically lost his life and has now been laid to rest.

Abdullahi said: “I resumed to the school today at exactly 7:47am. I entered the Acting Principal’s office and signed. All of a sudden, the Acting Principal asked me to look at my back and when I turned, we discovered that bandits had surrounded the school premises.

“We became confused, we didn’t know where to go. Then, the bandits asked us to enter the bush, so we obeyed them because they were many and the pupils, about 700 were following us. So, when we entered the bush, I was lucky to escape alongside many other people.

“So, I returned to the village and reported what happened to the community. So, immediately our vigilante and personnel of KADVS followed the bandits but the vigilante did not succeed. In fact, the bandits killed one of the vigilante, we just buried him hours ago.

“It was when we came back from that pursuit that we briefed the Village Head and we started making efforts to know the actual number of pupils and teachers taken away by the bandits.

“At GSS Kuriga, 187 students are missing. In the primary school, 125 pupils were initially missing, but 25 of them escaped and returned home.”

Governor Sani, during the visit, promised that no stone would be left unturned in ensuring the kidnapped victims all return home safely within the shortest possible time.