Heavily armed gunmen suspected to be bandits invaded Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State on Friday night and abducted unknown number of students.
One of the school’s security guard suffered gunshot injuries from the attack and was rushed to the Kankar General Hospital where he is receiving treatment while the whereabouts of the other guard is yet to be ascertained.
The attack came not long after President Muhammadu Buhari arrived in Katsina – his home state – for a week-long private visit.
Confirming the incident to newsmen, a resident of Kankara who spoke under condition of anonymity said there were reports that the attackers were sighted on their bikes late evening on Friday, a development which put the people of the area on alert.
“They arrived Kankara some minutes past 10 pm on about 150 motorcycles and some of them went straight to the school while others blocked the road leading to the school from Kankara town apparently to prevent anyone going to render help.
“Those who blocked the road were earlier engaged by members of the vigilante and within a short time, the police arrived with reinforcement,” he said.
According to the resident, some students who escaped abduction passed the night in bushes where they ran for safety and returned Saturday morning.
He added that others who were amongst the abductees were said to be found along the bandits’ route.
Meanwhile, Police spokesman in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah has confirmed the incident noting that policemen engaged the gunmen at the gate and that exchange of fire gave the students the signal to run for safety.
“One of our men was shot but he is responding to treatment. The DPO in Kankara together with reinforcement from other divisions are working to search for other students who are yet to return.
“As at now we cannot ascertain whether some of the students were kidnapped or not but our men are on top of the situation,” he said.
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