200 students abducted in Niger state

Not less than 200 students of Islamiyya School at Tegina in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have been abducted by terrorists, the second major abduction of students in the state.

The incident occurred on Sunday around 3:34pm as bandits invaded the town shooting sporadically in broad day.

Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Inga, Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), said details of the number of people abducted were still sketchy, while sources in the town said those abducted could be up to 200.

Mary Noel Berje, Chief Press Secretary to Niger Governor, Mary Noel Berje confirmed the incident, but could not tell the exact number of students kidnapped.

She said a number of conventional Islamiyya students of Salihu Tanko Islamic School Tegina in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have been abducted.

Berje stated that the number of abducted students of the Islamiyya was yet to be confirmed as the very little ones that could not go through the bush path were released

“However two people were shot in the cause of the attack with one person confirmed dead while the other person is critically injured,” she added.

According to her, the state government was still gathering detail security report on the attack so as to take necessary measures to secure the release of those kidnapped.

The Police Command in Niger also confirmed the abduction. Mr Adamu Usman, the Commissioner of Police in the state abductors killed one person in the process.

Usaman explained that the incident occurred at about 3pm when a large number of bandits on motorcycles attacked the town.

He said that the command had deployed a tactical squad supported by operatives of Operation Puff Adder 2, to track the abductors and rescue the victims.

The police commissioner urged members of the general public to support security agencies with reliable information to ensure the safe rescue of the children.

Channels TV reports that one person was shot dead while another is currently in a critical state in a hospital after gunmen carried out the kidnap operation at about 4:30pm on Sunday.

A resident of the area, Zayyad Mohammed,  who confirmed the incident, said the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya school where the incident took place was built by a retired Immigration officer. According to him, this Islamiyya school is not the usual Sangaya boarding Islamic citadel, but a conventional one where parents send their children on a daily basis for the purpose of acquiring Islamic education.

Also confirming the incident, the Secretary to the Niger State Government, Ahmed Matane said the number of the abducted students is yet to be ascertained.

“Yes, there was an attack at the Islamiyya school, but we do not yet have the exact number of students that were abducted. We are in touch with parents in the area to know those whose children were abducted.”

Matane who is the chairman of the state Security committee further revealed that while the attack in Tegina was going on, there were simultaneous attacks in Lavun LGA and some fringes of Mashegu LGA.