Overview
- Gunmen raided the girls’ secondary school in Maga, Kebbi State, around 4 a.m., killed deputy principal Hassan Makuku, and abducted 25 pupils, according to police.
- Authorities describe the assailants as heavily armed criminal bandits who arrived on many motorcycles, fired sporadically, and exchanged gunfire with security before fleeing.
- The army chief ordered day‑and‑night operations, with police, soldiers, and local militias combing escape routes and nearby forests to locate the students.
- Police told AFP the abducted students are all Muslim, countering U.S. claims of anti‑Christian targeting, as lawmakers in Washington weigh a possible religious‑freedom designation that could bring sanctions.
- Local and international outlets note one girl reportedly escaped, casualty figures remain uncertain, and the case echoes a years‑long pattern of mass school kidnappings in northern Nigeria.