Armed attackers struck a girls’ secondary school in north-western Nigeria early Monday morning, killing a teacher and abducting at least 25 students, according to police. The assault took place at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, at around 04:00 local time (03:00 GMT).

Police said the gunmen engaged officers on duty in a brief but intense gunfight before scaling the perimeter fence and storming the students’ hostel. A teacher was fatally shot while attempting to shield the girls, and another staff member sustained gunshot wounds and is currently receiving medical care. Eyewitnesses described the attackers—locally referred to as bandits—as a large, heavily armed group that arrived firing indiscriminately to create chaos. Residents told the BBC that the gunmen marched a number of girls into nearby forested terrain shortly after the raid.

Security forces have since deployed additional police tactical units, military personnel, and local vigilante groups to the area. A coordinated search-and-rescue operation is underway across surrounding forests and suspected escape routes. For more than a decade, schools across northern Nigeria have faced recurring attacks by armed groups who use mass kidnappings to extract ransom payments or political concessions. In response, the government has outlawed ransom payments, hoping to reduce the profitability of such crimes—though abductions have persisted.

This incident marks the first major school kidnapping since March 2024, when over 200 pupils were taken from a school in Kuriga, Kaduna State. The latest attack in Kebbi underscores the deepening security challenges facing the region. Families in Maga now face an agonising wait, clinging to hope that their daughters will be safely returned.