Nigerian gunmen seize dozens of girls from boarding school

Nigerian gunmen have abducted dozens of girls from a boarding school after killing the deputy head teacher, echoing the 2014 Boko Haram kidnappings in Chibok.

The assailants, armed with rifles, attacked the Maga Comprehensive Girls' Secondary School in Danko Wasagu, Kebbi state, at around 4am on Monday morning.

Police in Nigeria have confirmed the abduction of 25 female students and have now launched a search and rescue operation for those who were taken during this morning's incident.

Vice Principal Hassan Yakubu Makuku was also shot dead while resisting the attackers, and a security guard, named locally as Ali, sustained injuries during the invasion.

The gunmen fled towards the neighbouring state of Zamfara with the kidnapped students, a teacher speaking on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns told Reuters. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

It comes after April 14, 2014, where 276 girls, aged 16 to 18, were abducted from a school by the Boko Haram jihadist group in the Nigerian town of Chibok in what was the country's most high-profile mass abduction case. 

Residents of the Danko Wasagu area told Nigerian news site Premium Times following the most recent incident that the bandits infiltrated the area through Zamfara forests, and operated unhindered despite two military checkpoints near the school.

'One of the checkpoints is in Damarke,' the source, who lives near Maga town, said.  'It is under Bukkuyum Local Government Area of Zamfara State, and it is about seven kilometers from the school.' 

The other checkpoint, according to locals, is placed less than a kilometre from the abduction site.

'It is around Rabah junction in Maga,' a traditional ruler, said under the condition of anonymity. 

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'The checkpoint is fortified with heavy military equipment including an armoured personnel carrier (APC).' 

'The school is a boarding school and they only kidnapped the 25 students from one of the many hostels,' he added. 

Taking to X later on Monday morning, Nigeria's Police Force confirmed: 'Police tactical units, military personnel and vigilantes have been deployed for search and recue operations of the kidnapped students of government girls comprehensive secondary school, Maga.

'On the 17th November, 2025 at about 0400hrs, information received revealed that, a gang of armed bandits with sophisticated weapons, shooting sporadically, stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Danko district, Danko/Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State. 

'The police tactical units deployed in the school engaged them into a gun duel. Unfortunately, the suspected bandits had already scaled through the fence of the school and abducted Twenty Five students from their hostel to unknown destination. 

'Similarly, one Hassan Makuku 'm' was shot dead while Ali Shehu 'm' sustained injury in his right hand. 

'Upon receiving the unfortunate incident, a combined team of additional Police tactical units, military personnel and Vigilantes has been deployed in the area and they are currently combing the bandits' routes and nearby forest, with a view to rescue the abducted students and possibly arrest the perpetrators of the darstardly act. 

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'In the light of the above regrettable incident, the Commissioner of Police, Kebbi State Command, CP Bello M Sani had reiterated the Command's unwavering determination in safeguarding the lives and property of the residents of Kebbi State. 

'He equally appealed to the members of the public to remain calm, vigilant, and continue supporting Police operations for peace and stability to be maintained'.

Northwest Nigeria has experienced recurrent mass abductions from schools by armed gangs seeking ransom payments, despite government promises to enhance security in the region. 

In 2014, 276 girls, aged 16 to 18, were abducted from a school by the Boko Haram group in Chibok.

The school had been closed for four weeks due to the deteriorating security situation in the region, but the girls were in school to take final exams.

The militants broke into the school pretending to be soldiers from the Nigerian Security Forces, killing one soldier and a police officer in the process.

Across the five-hour attacks, several houses in the town were burned down.

According to accounts from girls who have since escaped, the militants had intended to steal a piece of machinery and were unsure what to do with the girls.

Eventually, they ordered the girls to leave with them, loading some into vehicles.

Others were ordered to walk for miles until other trucks took them away.

Of the schoolgirls, 57 managed to escape immediately by jumping from the trucks, while others have since been rescued by Nigerian Armed Forces.

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From 2016 to 2017, 108 victims were rescued by the Nigerian military or freed through prisoner swaps. Over 80 girls remain missing.

Since 2022, around 20 Chibok women have been rescued, but some have told stories of how they were forced to marry their abductors. 

More recently, in March 2024, 200 pupils were abducted by suspected jihadists during a raid on a school in northwest Nigeria. 

Witnesses said the pupils in Kaduna State were in the assembly ground at 8.30am when dozens of gunmen riding motorcycles stormed the school.

The students, aged between eight and 15, were then rounded up and taken away by the armed men - along with one of their teachers.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in Africa's most populous country, where heavily armed criminal gangs have targeted schools and colleges in the past, especially in the northwest, though such attacks have abated recently.