Gunmen raided a secondary school in Katsina State, northwest Nigeria and abducted several students, reports have said.
According to reports, the gunmen invaded Government Science Secondary School in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina on Friday night.
The attack on the school and environs started at about 11 pm and lasted for over two hours. An undisclosed number of students and residents of the town were declared missing after the raid.
Unlike previous attacks, where invaders launched attacks on motorbikes, the gunmen were said to have strolled into the school on foot and kidnapped the students.
Quoting an unnamed policeman, several reports said the gunmen killed a police officer and the gateman.
One of the eyewitnesses disclosed that “they shot sporadically in the students’ hostels. They searched bags looking for food and kidnapped dozens”.
“We ran to the bush together with some students, we were terribly confused and so many students sustained injuries while running.”
As of the time of compiling this report, it was not clear how many students were either hiding in the bush or those in the custody of the abductors.
Friday’s incident happened two days after armed groups kidnapped a village head and 20 other civilians in Gamji village Sabuwal Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The attack happened less than 24 hours after President Muhammadu arrived the state for a week-long private visit.