By Prosper Mene
Armed bandits stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS) in Maga, Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, abducting 25 terrified schoolgirls and brutally gunning down the school’s vice principal. The attack, which unfolded around 4 a.m. local time, marks a chilling resurgence of school-targeted kidnappings, prompting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to issue a direct presidential order for their swift and safe recovery.
Eyewitness accounts and police reports paint a scene of chaos and horror. Gunmen, wielding sophisticated weapons and firing sporadically to sow panic, scaled the school’s perimeter fence and made straight for the female students’ hostel. In the ensuing melee, Vice Principal Malam Hassan Yakubu Makuku was shot dead while heroically attempting to shield the girls. A school security guard, Ali Shehu, sustained severe gunshot wounds to his right hand and is receiving urgent medical attention. The attackers vanished into the dense surrounding forests with their young captives, leaving behind a trail of grief-stricken families and a community reeling from the violation of one of its most sacred spaces.
Kebbi State Police Command spokesperson, CSP Nafi’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi, confirmed the details in a statement from Birnin Kebbi, vowing that “no stone will be left unturned” in the hunt for the perpetrators. Tactical police units, bolstered by military reinforcements and local vigilantes, have already fanned out across suspected escape routes and forested hideouts in a high-stakes search-and-rescue operation. “The bandits will not escape justice,” Abubakar assured, emphasizing the coordinated multi-agency effort now underway.
President Tinubu, briefed on the incident shortly after it occurred, wasted no time in responding with decisive action.
In a statement relayed through Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the president condemned the attack in the strongest terms, describing it as a “heinous assault on the nation’s future” and a direct challenge to the federal government’s security mandate. “Protecting every Nigerian, especially our innocent schoolchildren, remains a solemn responsibility of the State,” Tinubu declared, directing security and intelligence agencies to “swing into immediate action” for the girls’ unharmed release.
He further instructed that the attackers face the “full weight of the law,” underscoring a zero-tolerance stance against such barbarism.
Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, labeled the raid “unacceptable and tragic,” offering prayers for the slain vice principal’s family and reaffirming the administration’s commitment to bolstering internal security. “The Federal Government is recalibrating our military, policing, and intelligence capabilities to prevent these attacks and respond with greater speed and precision,” Idris added on Tinubu’s behalf, signaling broader reforms in the offing.
This latest outrage revives painful memories of Nigeria’s protracted battle against banditry and insurgency in the northwest. Over the past decade, armed groups have repeatedly targeted educational institutions in states like Kebbi, Kaduna, and Zamfara, abducting hundreds of pupils for ransom or recruitment. The March 2024 Kuriga school kidnapping in neighboring Kaduna State, where over 250 students were seized, remains a stark benchmark, though most were eventually freed through military intervention.
The Federal Government has extended its deepest condolences to the Makuku family and the affected households, promising accountability and closure. In a nation where the right to learn without fear is increasingly under siege, Tinubu’s orders represent more than a tactical directive, they are a clarion call to reclaim security for the vulnerable. Updates on the operation will follow as they emerge, but one thing is clear: Nigeria will not yield to terror’s shadow.
