Gunmen kidnap 25 schoolgirls in Nigeria, kill vice principal, security guard for resisting

LAGOS, Nigeria

At least 25 schoolgirls were kidnapped by unknown gunmen during an early Monday morning attack on a school in Nigeria's northwestern Kebbi State, while a vice principal and a security guard were shot and killed for resisting.

According to many local media reports, the attack on the Government Girls' Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State's Danko Wasagu Local Government Area (LGA), occurred around 4:00 a.m., shortly before dawn prayers.

While police, the military, and the Kebbi State government have made no statements about the incident, two traditional leaders told Anadolu that the attackers stormed the school premises through Zamfara forests and operated unhindered.

"Vice Principal Hassan Yakubu Makuku was fatally shot while resisting the attackers. A local security guard was also killed," said the traditional leaders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions from the gunmen involved in the abduction.

When contacted, Kebbi police spokesperson Nafiu Abubakar Kotarkoshi confirmed to Anadolu that "state security and law enforcement, including police and soldiers, have been deployed into the forest to search for the students."

Despite government promises to improve security, Northwest Nigeria continues to suffer from repeated school abductions by armed gangs seeking ransom payments.

The latest incident continues a troubling trend that began with Boko Haram's kidnapping of 270 Chibok schoolgirls in 2014.

Since then, over 500 students have been kidnapped, with armed groups taking advantage of Nigeria's poorly policed regions to extract lucrative ransoms.

The Nigerian government has vowed to step up operations against kidnappers, but insecurity persists, making schools vulnerable.