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Bandits armed with assault rifles attacked a secondary school in northwestern Nigeria’s Katsina state last night, and two locals told Reuters hundreds of students were missing.
The gunmen stormed the Government Science High School in Kankara district and police at the scene responded to fire, allowing some students to run for safety, police spokesman Gambo Isah said in a statement.
Police said they were working with the army and air force to determine how many students were missing or abducted and to find them.
An officer was shot and wounded in the shooting with the gang, they said.
There were chaotic scenes at the school today as desperate parents and security personnel gathered to search for about half of the school’s 800 students who were still missing, a parent and a school employee told Reuters.
Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state, is plagued by violent bandits who regularly attack locals and kidnap them for ransom.
Attacks by Islamist militants are common in the northeastern parts of the country.
The violence and insecurity in Nigeria have angered citizens, especially after Islamist militants killed, some beheaded, dozens of farmers in the northeastern state of Borno late last month.
President Buhari, who arrived yesterday to spend a week in his hometown about 200 kilometers from Kankara, had planned to brief the national assembly on the security situation last week, but canceled the appearance without official explanation.
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