Gunmen suspected to be bandits yesterday attacked Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Tegina, Rafi local government area of Niger State and abducted 200 children and eight others.
The gunmen who killed two people, abducted five teachers and three others from the school.
Tegina is about 20 kilometres to Kalgara where secondary school’s students were abducted recently and a commercial melting pot for passengers travelling to Northwest and southwest of Nigeria.
It was learnt that the bandits attacked the school located at the T Junction of the road leading to Makera south west and northwest through Kalgara at about 4.55pm and took the road towards Minna, the state capital.
Sources in the town said the abducted pupils were between three and 14 years of age, adding that some of the victims could hardly walk.
According to the sources, six of the pupils who could not walk were released a few minutes after the attack that lasted for about 40 minutes without any help from security agencies
The director-general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) Ahmed Inga said, “NSEMA has just received a report of a deadly bandits’ attack on Tegina community in Rafi LGA.
“One person who is an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) was reportedly shot dead by the bandits. An unconfirmed number of children were kidnapped alongside some passengers in a Sharon bus enroute Ninna. It is speculated that the children were about 200 in numbers. Meanwhile six children who were too small and couldn’t walk were released,” he said.
The chief press secretary to the governor Mary Noel Berje in her official handle confirmed the attack, saying that two persons were shot dead but details were still sketchy as the state government was waiting more facts on the attack.
The state police command public relations officer Wasiu Abiodun confirmed the incident. He said the command had mobilized all tactical teams including “Operation Puff 2” to the location to rescue the victims.
Abiodun called for calm and promised that the police and other security agencies would do everything humanly possible to rescue the children unhurt.
School Attack, One Too Many(Opens in a new browser tab)