Bandits have again attacked another school in Kaduna state in the early hours of Monday, whisking away unspecified number of students from Bethel Secondary School Maramara, Chickun local government area.
The school, owned by the Baptist Church, is located in the outskirts of Kaduna capital city along Kaduna – Kachia road.
Though, Kaduna state Police Command could not immediately confirm the number of students abducted by the gunmen, it said a joint security team comprising the Police, Army and others have rescued 17 students.
The Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Muhammed Jalige said, “yes, I can confirm to you that there was an incident at the school but the joint security team comprising the Police, Army and others have rescued 17 students.
“We cannot say this is the number of students kidnapped for now. As soon as that information is available, we will issue a statement,” ASP Jalige said.
The boarding school according to one of its security guards, Mr. Daniel Muhuta came under the attack of the heavily armed gunmen around 1:00am early Monday morning.
According to him, “I escaped narrowly myself. They came around 1.00am and started shooting. I was at the back of the school dormitory when I heard the gunshots and decided to hide.”
Also, a source from Marmara told our Correspondent that, many students were kidnapped but four of them were able to escape and ran back to the school. “The students, who escaped and came back to the school told us that two soldiers were shot by the bandits, but they could not confirm if the soldiers are still alive or not.
“It is difficult to say this is the number of students that were abducted. Even the students that escaped are still in state of shock and confusion and could not tell the number of their mates that the bandits went away with,” the source said.
Security personnel were said to have cordoned off the area, even as parents and relatives of the students besieged the school to ascertain the wellbeing of their children, and take them home.
