Unknown gunmen have attacked a secondary school at Damba-Kasaya village in Kaduna State, abducting seven students and their female teacher, reports say.
According to reports on Wednesday, the gunmen, who stormed the village on no fewer than 20 motorcycles on Monday morning, killed a vigilante and vandalised a church in the process.
According to eyewitness reports, the gunmen arrived at about 8:00 am (0700 GMT) and went into Prince Academy, a secondary school where they took away with them seven students and their teacher who was coaching them for their upcoming senior class exams.”
The hoodlums raided homes, stealing money and personal effects as residents fled into cornfields, resident Iliya Bawa stated while confirming the abductions.
“We don’t know where they took the hostages, they have not made any contact. We hope they don’t harm them,” he said.
The attackers broke into a church and vandalised musical instruments before soldiers arrived in the village, causing them to flee.
A local vigilante was killed in an ensuing gunfight as soldiers pursued the attackers, sources said.
The police were not immediately available for comment on the incident.
It would be recalled that in October 2019, gunmen kidnapped six girls and two members of staff from a boarding school near the highway. They were later released, but it was not clear if a ransom was paid.
In January 2020, four seminarians were also abducted by gunmen who stormed the Good Shepherd Catholic Major Seminary in Kakau, along Kaduna-Abuja road.
Three weeks after that incident, the Registrar of the school, Rev. Father Joel Usman, announced that three of the seminarians were freed while the fourth, one Nnadi Michael, was killed for refusing to renounce his faith.