Published 11:48 IST, December 13th 2020
Nigeria school attack: Hundreds of students missing in Katsina after gunmen's raid
Hundreds of students are feared to be missing after gunmen raided a school in Nigeria. The military had located gunmen's hideout & exchanged gunfire with them.
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Hundreds of students are feared to be missing after gunmen raided a secondary school in north-western Nigeria on December 11. According to BBC, the witnesses informed that the attackers arrived in motorbikes and started shooting into the air, causing people to flee. They targeted the Government Science Secondary School in Katsina state and on Saturday the military said that they had located the gunmen’s hideout in a forest and exchanged gunfire with them.
While taking to Twitter, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari also condemned the attack and ordered the school to carry out a full audit of students to find out how many are missing. The President also charged the security personnel to ensure that the attackers are neutralised and that no students get harmed or missing. Further, Buhari has also directed the reinforcement of security of all schools in line with the safe schools' policy of the administration.
President @MBuhari has been briefed by Gov Aminu Bello Masari, and the Chief of @HQNigerianArmy Staff, on the bandits’ attack on innocent children at the Science School, Kankara, Katsina State. Military personnel have located the bandits’ enclave at Zango/Paula forest in Kankara.
— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) December 12, 2020
‘Search, rescue exercise still ongoing’
As per reports, the parents who dashed to the school to take their children home were also asked to notify the school authorities. While speaking to the media outlet, the residents living ear the all-boys boarding school in the Kankara area said that they heard the gunfire at about 22:00 (GMT) on Friday and that the attack lasted for over an hour. Further, security personnel at the school were able to repel some of the attackers before police reinforcement arrived.
The Nigerian police informed that during a change of fire, some of the gunmen were forced to retreat and students were able to scale the fence of the school and run to safety. Around 200 students who had fled were initially deemed to be missing, however, they later returned. Witnesses, however, said that they saw a number of students being taken away by the attackers.
Investigations so far reveal that one of the attackers was killed and a policeman injured during the attack. The exact number of students missing cannot be ascertained at the moment as massive operations including investigations, search and rescue exercise are still ongoing.
— Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) December 12, 2020
(Image: @PulseNigeria247/Twitter)
11:48 IST, December 13th 2020