Despite Buhari's Heavy Security Presence, Kidnappers Invade Katsina , 600 Students Missing.

 

At least 600 out of 800 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State have gone missing, after an attack by  gunmen on Friday night.

The attack took place hours after President Muhammadu Buhari arrived his hometown, Daura in Katsina state for a week-long holiday. 

 Kankara town has for years been a target of dare-devil kidnappers and bandits. 

According to eye witnesses the bandits launched the attack shortly after prep at 9:30pm.

He said the bandits started shooting sporadically in the air, causing commotion and stampede before scaling over the fence and breaking the gate.

According to him, the school has over 800 students, with the exception of JS3 and SS3 students who are now out of school.

At the time of filing this report, hundreds of the missing students are yet to be found,  more than 12 hours after the attack. 

The source said not all of the missing students were abducted, that many of them ran to the bush to escape from the bandits.  

The source said the bandits, after gathering the students in one place, shepherded them towards Pauwa village, where they kept dozens of motorcycles.

In an interview with the BBC, the spokesman for the Katsina State Police Command, DSP Gambo Isa, confirmed the attack, saying a policeman sustained gun injury when their men engaged the bandits.

He said the police have beefed up security around the area to forestall future recurrence and restore normalcy.

He added that no death was recorded during the attack

“Yesterday, around 11:30pml, we heard a report that bandits in their numbers armed with their AK-47 rifles attacked Government School, Kankara and they were shooting sporadically,” he said.

“We have our men guarding the school, so there was an exchange of fire in a gun duel. That gave the students an opportunity to escape. Many of them scaled through the fence of the school. The attackers injured one of our inspectors, reinforcement was drafted and the DPO led an armoured personnel carrier (APC) team.

While we were exchanging fire with the bandits, they were retreating into the forest. This morning, the DPO called and said he has found over 200 of the students that escaped. Search parties are still rallying into the town and nearby farms in order to get the students that escaped from the school.

“So, we are still counting the numbers in order to know those that are mismissingjsing. We cannot ascertain at this particular time whether these bandits were able to kidnap any of the students.

“Counting is still ongoing, because the students had the opportunity of scaling the fence for safety. Later on, we will be able to confirm if some students were kidnapped because they will call to demand ransom in their usual way.”