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One of the 25 schoolgirls kidnapped from a secondary school in northwestern Nigeria has escaped and is now safe, authorities confirmed on Tuesday, as hunters and security agencies intensify efforts to locate the remaining abducted students.
Gunmen stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, in the early hours of Monday, seizing at least 25 students in an attack that sent shockwaves through the rural community and renewed fears about school safety across northern Nigeria.
Read also: Bandits kidnap 25 female students in Kebbi school
The attack, one of the latest in a cycle of school raids across northern Nigeria, left residents shaken and the nation once again confronting the persistent threat of mass abductions.
Musa Rabi Magaji, School principal, said the first escapee returned home late Monday night, while another student managed to flee during the chaos of the attack and was never taken by the gunmen.
“They are safe and sound,” Magaji told The Associated Press.
A video verified by AP showed the two girls, appearing to be in their early teens, surrounded by relieved family members in their village.
Waidi Shaibu, Chief of Army Staff, ordered troops under Operation FANSAN YANMA to launch intensified, intelligence-driven search-and-rescue operations across the surrounding forest corridors.
“We must find these children. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence. Success is not optional”, Shaibu directed commanders.
Families in Maga described the attack as sudden and terrifying, as Abdulkarim Abdullahi, a Resident said he awoke to the sound of gunfire coming from the school compound.
“I was at home when I suddenly heard gunshots from the school. We were told that the attackers entered with many motorcycles,” he recounted.
The gunmen also killed Hassan Yakubu Makuku, the school’s vice principal. His wife, Amina Hassan, recounted the moment armed men entered their home.
“Three of them entered and asked my husband, ‘Are you Malam Hassan?’ and he responded, ‘Yes, I am.’ They told him that they were there to kill him,” she said,
On Tuesday evening, President Bola Tinubu, directed Kashim Shettima, Vice President to go to Kebbi State to meet with the grieving families and receive a briefing on the ongoing rescue efforts.
The president pledged that the government was committed to securing the safe and swift return of the remaining girls.
As the time of filling this report, the remaining abducted girls were still unaccounted for.
