Bandits in the early hours of Monday invaded the Bethel Baptist High School, Maraban Rido in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and whisked away no fewer than 140 students.
A teacher in the school, Emmanuel Paul, said 140 students were abducted by the bandits, who attacked the school located along the Kaduna-Kachia highway at 1am.
“They came at 1am and made away with 140 students,” he said.
However, the police said a few hours after the abduction, security agents rescued 26 of the abducted students.
Recall that eight students and two teachers of the Kaduna State-owned Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria, who were abducted on June 10, have not been released.
A few hours after the latest kidnapping in Kaduna, it was learnt that two security agents were killed by the bandits who laid an ambush after the incident.
A source said, “We learnt that after rescuing some of the students, two of the security operatives were killed during an ambush by the bandits.”
It was also learnt that the bandits broke the perimeter fence and went straight to the boys’ hostel, where they forcefully led some students to the girls hostel.
A student, who escaped to the back of the hostel during the raid, said the abducted schoolboys were made to stay in front of girls’ hostel where female students were forced out and jointly taken away with the boys.
A parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said when the bandits arrived at the school, “They started shooting sporadically and headed straight to the boys hostel. They had a field day before proceeding to the female hostel. From there, they took the students into the bush through the broken perimeter fencing.”
Following the abduction, aggrieved parents barricaded the Kaduna – Kachia highway and called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state.
There was commotion as some of the parents stormed the school as early as 4am when they learnt about the attack.
The protesting parents, who sat in the middle of the highway and refused to leave, vowed that they would remain in the school until they were reunited with their children.
The parents, mostly women, carried leaves, and were chanting “enough is enough”, “we won’t leave here,” “we want our children back”, “we are tired of kidnapping and killings,” among others.
All entreaties to disperse the parents failed, forcing one of the soldiers to shoot into the air, but the parents remained adamant, saying they were “ready to die here” without their children.
It was gathered that the protesting parents left the road at 3pm.
While the Kaduna State police said security operatives rescued 26 out of the 140 students abducted by the bandits, some of the protesting parents claimed that the force was lying.
The state Police Command’s spokesman, Mohammed Jalige, stated that a combined team of police, Army and Navy gave the bandits a hot chase and rescued 26 students.
According to him, the operation is still going on. He assured parents that the operatives would rescue the students unhurt.
The police spokesman said, “In the early hours of today, Monday, 5th July, 2021 at about 0143hrs, the command received a report that bandits in large numbers gained access into Bethel Baptist Secondary School Kujuma in the Chikun LGA of Kaduna State.
“They shot and overpowered the school’s security guards and made their way into the students’ hostels where they abducted an unspecified number of students into the forest.
“On the receipt of the unfortunate incident, a joint team of the Nigeria Police, Army and Navy operatives was immediately mobilised to the area with a mission to rescue the abducted students unhurt.
“The operatives gave the bandits a hot pursuit occasioned by a tactical application of weapons and succeeded in rescuing 26 students including a female teacher safely.”
But, one of the parents, Mrs Emmaunel, claimed that the security operatives never rescued the students, noting that “ they came back on their own.
“In fact, the students that they were claiming to have rescued, came back on their own. The security agent did not rescue anybody. They have already started saying that soldiers rescued them and even when some soldiers were killed. So no soldier rescued any child.”
After the attack, the Kaduna State Government ordered the immediate closure of 13 schools located in areas identified as vulnerable to attacks by bandits.
The directive, which was issued by the Director General of Quality Assurance Authority in the state Ministry of Education, Umma Ahmed, to proprietors of private schools, said the closure was with immediate effect.
Ahmed listed affected schools to include Faith Academy, along Kachia Road adjacent to Jakaranda, Deeper Life Academy, Maraban Rido, ECWA Secondary School, Ungwar Maje and Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi.
Others are St. Peters Minor Seminary, Katari; Prelude Secondary School, Kujama; Ibiso Secondary School, Tashar Iche; Tulip International (Boys) School and Tulip international (Girls) School.
Also on the list are Goodnews Secondary School, St. Augustine, Kujama, Comprehensive Development Institution, Tudun Mare and Adventist College, Kujama.
