In a dramatic development following the abduction of 25 students from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School (GGCSS) in Maga, Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, one of the kidnapped schoolgirls has successfully escaped from her captors and reunited with her family.
The principal of GGCSS Maga, Musa Rabi Magaji, confirmed on Tuesday that the student managed to flee from the terrorist hideout late Monday and reappeared at her family home, just hours after the early morning assault that shocked the local community and the nation at large. “One is part of the 25 abducted, and the other one returned earlier,” Magaji explained, referencing another student—who was not among those officially listed as abducted—also making her way back to safety.
“They are safe and sound,” he added, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The attack occurred around 4 a.m. on Monday when heavily armed assailants stormed the all-girls boarding school. According to a statement from Police Public Relations Officer CSP Nafi’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi, the bandits engaged officers on duty in a fierce gun battle before managing to scale the school’s perimeter fence and seize the students from their hostel. During the violent encounter, one staff member, Hassan Makuku, lost his life, while another, Ali Shehu, sustained gunshot injuries to his right hand.
Law enforcement and government authorities reacted swiftly. SaharaReporters confirmed that shortly after the incident, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, visited the school, instructing troops involved in Operation FANSAN YANMA to intensify search and rescue operations. The Army chief ordered commanders to launch “intelligence-driven operations and relentless day-and-night pursuit of the abductors,” declaring, “We must find these children. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence. Success is not optional.”
Security agencies subsequently expanded their operational footprint, combing through forests and remote areas surrounding the school in a determined effort to track down the kidnappers and rescue the remaining students. While no specific terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, witnesses said the attackers—described as mostly young men in military camouflage—spoke the Fulani language. The wife of the slain vice-principal provided this chilling detail to SaharaReporters, highlighting the organized and menacing nature of the group.
The mass abduction has drawn widespread condemnation from security analysts, ordinary Nigerians, and members of the international community, who continue to decry the escalating insecurity that has plagued parts of northern Nigeria. Mass kidnappings from schools have become an alarming trend over the past decade, with both criminal gangs and jihadi fighters expanding their activities and making the security situation even more complicated.
Authorities maintain that all available resources are being deployed to secure the immediate and safe return of the abducted girls, as families and communities hold onto hope amid uncertainty and fear.
