UPDATED: Bandits abduct ‘327 secondary school girls’ in Zamfara

Published by

4 years ago

There was apprehension as bandits invaded Government Girls secondary School, Jangebe inTalata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State, reportedly abducting no fewer than 327 students.

The Zamfara State government has also confirmed the abduction through the Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Abubakar Dauran, in an interview with journalists on Friday.

“I can confirm to you that we have sadly received the report on the abduction of the students of GGSS, Jangebe and right now, I am on my way to the school.

“At this moment, l cannot say how many students were taken away by the gunmen until l get there but we have already mobilised security men and members of the vigilantè who are now in pursuit of the suspected abdctors,” he said.

A staff member of the school who did not want to be named disclosed that “gunmen in their hundreds invaded the town around 2:00 a.m. on Friday, started shooting sporadically to scare people.

“After taking away the students, we 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, the local vigilantè had tried to repel the invaders but they were overpowered.

“The bandits were too many and they all seemed to be carrying heavy arms as we heard gunshots from all parts of the town. When the shooting stopped, we heard that many students were kidnapped.

According to a father of a student among the abducted girls, Alhaji Bello Maikusa Jangebe, an unpleasant sound of guns woke up the entire people in the town at around 1:30 a.m.

“We thought they have come to attack residents as they usually do. Unfortunately, this time around, they aimed at the students and abducted about 327 of them. Later we noticed that only few of the students were left behind,” Maikusa said.

Contacted for comments, the spokesperson of the Zamfara State Police Command, SP Shehu Muhammad, said the police were preparing a statement over the incident.