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Bandits on Thursday afternoon struck at Federal Government College in Birnin-Yauri, in Kebbi state and abducted scores of students.
A policeman who tried to challenge the bandits was gunned down, according to witnesses in the town.
A witness disclosed that “three or four teachers of the college were abducted. Out of the abductees, there was a Vice Principal and a female teacher.”
“Two students, a male and female, were said to have been shot by the bandits. The boy was shot on the buttocks while the girl sustained a gunshot injury on her arm”, the witness added.
Early in June, no fewer than 88 people were killed by bandits in communities in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area the State.
Atiku Aboki, a local resident who went to the school shortly after the gunfire stopped, told Reuters he saw a scene of panic and confusion as people searched for their children.
“When we got there we saw students crying, teachers crying, everyone is sympathising with people,” he said by telephone.
“Everyone was confused. Then my brother called me (to say) that his two children have not been seen and (we) don’t know if they are among the kidnapped.”
The member representing Ngaski/Shanga/Yauri Federal Constituency of Kebbi State at the House of Representatives, Yusuf Tanko Sununu, also confirmed the abductions of students and teachers.
Sununu, who addressed journalists at the National Assembly, said the number of students and teachers abducted was yet to be ascertained.
He called on the Federal Government and security agencies to rise to the occasion and ensure the rescue of the abducted students and teachers.
Sununu said bandits have been having a field day in his constituency.
He said the southern part of the state has witnessed a lot of misfortune recently.
“Not long ago we lost over 154 people from my constituency when they were traveling in a boat that capsized, and we could only account for 98 corpses and 22 survivors.
“A week ago we had another calamity when bandits, according to eye witnesses, numbering about 300, each with AK-47 rifles, and using very strong motorcycles, came into my constituency.
“They had a field day and operated for more than eight hours. Going from house to house, room to room, collecting money, handsets, motorcycles and cattle.
“That led to a massive influx of internally displaced persons to the headquarters of the emirate in the town of Yauri,” he said.
The lawmaker said they were able to convince to start going back to their respective areas.
He, however, disclosed that, the bandits had left a message after the attack, saying they would be back.
“Taking it seriously, some people refused to go back and today, they repeated what they had done earlier and they came into the constituency.
“They were able to have access after a strong fight with the policemen that were guarding the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri. They made inroad to the school.
“They succeeded in kidnapping some teachers and an unaccounted number of students. Some of the students and security men are currently receiving care at the General Hospital Yauri following gun injuries,” he said.
More than 800 Nigerian students have been kidnapped from their schools since December in a series of raids blamed by the authorities on ransom seekers.
Some have been freed while others remain missing.
The raids have mostly taken place in the north-western region.
They are separate from Islamist insurgencies centred on the northeast, where the Boko Haram militant group made global headlines in 2014 when it abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok.
