Gunmen armed with what police described as “sophisticated weapons” stormed a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria early Monday, killing the vice principal and abducting 25 female students.
The attackers raided the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, “shooting sporadically,” according to a statement from the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).
Tactical units deployed at the scene engaged the gunmen in a firefight, but police said the bandits had already scaled the school fence and fled with the students.
“Hassan Makuku was shot dead while Ali Shehu sustained an injury to his right hand,” the NPF reported, with local media confirming Makuku as the school’s vice principal.
A teacher told Reuters the educator was killed while trying to resist the attackers.
Kebbi police spokesperson Nafiu Abubakar Kotarkoshi said a joint team of police, military, and vigilantes is now “combing the bandits’ routes and nearby forest, with a view to rescue the abducted students and possibly arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly act.”
The incident adds to Nigeria’s longstanding kidnapping crisis, which has seen criminal gangs and extremist groups abduct civilians for ransom across multiple states.
🇳🇬 VICE PRINCIPAL KILLED, FEMALE STUDENTS ABDUCTED IN NIGERIA SCHOOL ATTACK
Gunmen stormed a girls' boarding school in Nigeria killing the vice principal and abducting several students.
The assailants fled with the girls toward Zamfara state. No group has claimed… https://t.co/Pv5lCIeqRH pic.twitter.com/q7VsUBCPWg
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 17, 2025
