Many students have been abducted at an Islamiyya school at Tegina in Rafi local government area of Niger State.
The abduction followed an attack on Tegina in the early hours of Sunday.
The number of students abducted could not be ascertained as at press time.
The victims are said to students of Salihu Tanko Islamic school.
However, two people were shot in the attack, with one person confirmed dead.
Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, said the state government is still searching and conducting house-to-house headcount to ascertain the exact number of children abducted.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, was not available when contacted for confirmation and reaction.
Meanwhile, eleven children among those kidnapped were released by the gunmen because they could not walk faster, the governor said in a statement while expressing outrage at the escalating level of banditry in the state.
“The situation has reached crisis level, in fact it’s a war situation that we have to confront without further delay”, he added.
It was also reported that the gunmen, on about 70 Motorcycles, attacked 17 communities in Wushishi Local Government Area, where they shot several people while some women and children drowned as they try to escape across River Kaduna.
More than ten people were reported to be receiving treatment at the Wushishi General Hospital even as search is still ongoing for many missing persons from Babako, Tashan Girgi, Kwakwagi, Fakara, Ndiga, Buzu, Akare, Kala Kala, Agwa, Anguwan Gizo, Tsamiya and other neighbouring villages attacked by the bandits.
The governor reiterated his emergency call on the Federal Government for prompt intervention.
He assured that the Joint Military Taskforce has been mobilized and were already tracing the tracks of the criminals for possible isolation and ambush.
Bandits demand N50m ransom to release captives
Armed bandits, who attacked Batatti in Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State, have demanded N50million ransom to release their captives.
This is as the Chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, has called for an emergency meeting of district and village heads over the kidnap of five persons in Batatti.
Ten bandits had, on Friday, stormed Batatti at 8:00 pm and kidnapped five persons. Several other persons were injured during the attack, while other valuables including laptops and handsets were carted away.