MAGA, Nigeria — A schoolgirl abducted with 24 others from a dormitory in northwestern Nigeria escaped and returned home late Monday, the principal of the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School told The Associated Press on Tuesday, as hunters and security forces searched nearby forests for the missing students.
Gunmen attacked the school before dawn on Monday, scaling the fence of the Maga campus in Kebbi state, exchanging fire with police and seizing the girls from the dormitory. A staff member was killed during the raid, local officials said. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction; analysts and locals said gangs of bandits — often ex-herders who turned to armed crime after clashes with farming communities — frequently kidnap students, travelers and remote villagers for ransom.
The school is close to conflict hotspots in Zamfara and Sokoto states, where several gangs are known to operate and hide. Mass school kidnappings have been common in northern Nigeria, and analysts say such raids are used to draw attention.
Principal Musa Rabi Magaji said one of the abducted girls escaped and arrived home hours after the kidnapping. Another student managed to flee in the minutes after the raid and was not taken. “They are safe and sound,” Magaji said. A video verified by AP shows the two girls, who appear to be in their early teens, surrounded by family and villagers with hijabs covering their heads. High schoolers in Nigeria are usually between 12 and 17.
Security forces and community hunters intensified the search for the remaining students, sweeping forests where gangs often hide and deploying teams along major roads leading from the school. Kebbi Governor Nasir Idris visited the campus and vowed efforts to rescue the girls. Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, met soldiers after the attack and ordered “intelligence-driven operations and relentless day-and-night pursuit of the abductors,” an army statement said. “We must find these children. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence. Success is not optional,” he said.
By Tuesday morning the dormitory and classroom block were deserted. Families in Maga awaiting news expressed anger and frustration. Resident Abdulkarim Abdullahi, whose daughter and granddaughter — 13 and 10 — were among those kidnapped, said he heard gunfire from his home and was told attackers came on many motorcycles.
Amina Hassan, the wife of the school vice principal Hassan Yakubu Makuku, said assailants broke into their house on the school grounds and fatally shot her husband, who was also the chief security officer. She recounted that three men entered, asked “Are you Malam Hassan?” and told him, “we are here to kill you.”
At least 1,500 students have been seized in the region since Boko Haram abducted 276 Chibok schoolgirls over a decade ago, but bandit gangs are also active and often carry out high-profile kidnappings to garner attention. Analysts and residents blame insecurity on failures to prosecute known attackers and on corruption that hinders security forces’ weapons supplies while enabling gangs to obtain arms.
“What gains traction is when it is strategic kidnapping, like school children,” said Oluwole Ojewale, a security analyst at the Institute for Security Studies. He contrasted such high-profile abductions with kidnappings in markets or on roads that sometimes receive less attention. Security forces and local communities continued searches in the days after the raid.