The attack, which occurred around 3 a.m., plunged the community into grief as anxious parents, distraught teachers, and traumatised residents searched desperately for answers on the whereabouts of the missing girls.
Security agencies — including the Nigerian Police and the military — have since launched a large-scale intelligence-led search-and-rescue operation to track the attackers and recover the abducted students.
Eyewitness Accounts of a Night of Horror
During a Tuesday visit to the scene, parents and school staff narrated how the attackers operated freely for over an hour before escaping through the forest.
Hajia Maryam Bello, the hostel matron who has served in the school for nearly two decades, said she sensed danger when a student began crying around 3:00 a.m.
Looking through the window, she saw dozens of armed men surrounding the compound.
“One of them called me by the name students use. He begged me to open the door. I refused and locked myself inside,” she said.
She described how the attackers tried repeatedly to break her door with a machete but failed, after which they headed for the girls’ hostel and abducted several students.
Parents narrated similar scenes of terror. One of them, Abubakar, said he found his younger daughter trembling outside the hostel but could not locate his older daughter, Khadija.
“She said the bandits had taken her. I almost collapsed,” he said.
He recounted how his younger daughter survived by hiding in a room with three others. “Three came out when the bandits threatened them, but my daughter hid and refused to come out.”
The wife of the slain Vice Principal described how the attackers first broke into their home.
“They killed my husband and forced my daughter to lead them to the hostel,” she said tearfully. “When they saw the students, they abandoned her.”
Another parent, Mallam Lawali, whose 12-year-old daughter Hawau was abducted, said the family had been devastated.
“My wife hasn’t eaten since the incident. Government must help us recover our daughters,” he pleaded.
Military and Government Mobilise for Rescue
Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, arrived in Kebbi on Tuesday and ordered troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA to pursue the kidnappers relentlessly.
“We must find these children. Success is not optional,” he declared.
He later met with vigilantes and local hunters, urging them to support the operation with their knowledge of surrounding forests.
Governor Nasir Idris also visited the school, promising that “whatever is humanly possible will be done” to rescue the girls.
A combined security team, led by Deputy Governor Umar Abubakar Tafida and Secretary to the State Government Yakubu Yauri, has intensified ground and aerial surveillance across forests bordering Kebbi and Zamfara States.
Meanwhile, the state government dismissed claims circulating on social media that security operatives were withdrawn before the attack, describing them as “politically motivated and malicious.”
Nationwide Reactions and Senate Outcry
The incident triggered nationwide outrage, with lawmakers drawing parallels to the 2014 Chibok abduction and the 2021 Birnin Yauri attack.
Senators debated the worsening security situation, lamenting Nigeria’s repeated failure to protect schools.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio condemned the attack, urging a coordinated national response and directing a closed-door meeting after deliberations.
Former Senate President Ahmad Lawan warned that Nigeria risks losing a generation if decisive action is not taken urgently.
UNICEF, NBA, and First Lady Condemn Attack
UNICEF, the Nigerian Bar Association, and First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu all condemned the abduction, calling for swift rescue efforts and accountability.
UNICEF emphasised that children and schools must be protected under international law and urged full implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration.
NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), described the attack as “a national shame,” warning that Nigeria risked descending into chaos if mass abductions and killings continued unchecked.
First Lady Oluremi Tinubu expressed deep sorrow, calling the abduction “an attack on the values of safety and learning,” and revealed that President Tinubu had ordered immediate action to rescue the girls.
As search operations intensify, residents continue to camp around the school, praying for the safe return of their children — yet another tragic reminder of the growing threat facing educational institutions across the country.
