No fewer than 54 students are reported missing after gunmen attacked a secondary school in Katsina State.
In response to the worrisome incident, the state government has ordered an immediate shut down of boarding schools in the state.
Yet – to – be identified gunmen had stormed Government Science Secondary School in Ƙanƙara Local Government Area of the state on Friday night, causing students, teachers, and other staff members to scamper for safety.
According to Channels TV, a headcount in the boarding school on Saturday, amid reports that hundreds of them had been abducted, revealed that 54 students are missing.
Channels TV quoted a staff to have said there were 884 students in the school at the time of the attack.
Earlier in the day, the spokesperson of the Police Command in the state, Gambo Isah, and the principal of the school, Usman Abubakar, told Channels Television that 200 of the students who fled for safety were found by the divisional police officer in the area and returned.
The police received report of the attack around 11:30 pm. They were told bandits armed with AK-47 rifles had attacked the school.
According to Isah, policemen who were stationed at the school battled to stop the attack.
“There was exchange of fire between our policemen and the bandits. In fact, they shot one of our policemen and he has been taken to the hospital and is responding to treatment,” he said.
In a swift reaction to the attack, Governor Aminu Masari has ordered the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools in the state.
The governor took the decision after a meeting with some parents, traditional, religious leaders, and security officials at the school, where he promised that the government will do everything possible to ensure all students return safely.