(MENAFN- Live Mint) Armed assailants attacked a high school in Kebbi State in northwestern Nigeria before dawn on Monday, abducting 25 schoolgirls and killing at least one member of staff, the Associated Press news agency reported, citing local authorities.

No group has claimed responsibility for seizing the girls from the boarding school in Kebbi State, and their motive remained unclear.

According to the police, the schoolgirls were taken from their dormitories at 4 AM on Monday. The school is located in Maga, in the state's Danko-Wasagu area, said police spokesperson Nafi'u Abubakar Kotarkoshi.

Also Read | Trump threatens to strike Nigeria to 'wipe out Islamic terrorists'

The assailants were armed with“sophisticated weaponrs” and exchanged fire with guards before the kidnapping the girls, Mr. Kotarkoshi said.

Mr. Kotarkoshi reported one person was killed and another was injured, though a local resident, whose daughter and granddaughter were kidnapped in the raid, believes the death toll is two.

“A combined team is currently combing suspected escape routes and surrounding forests in a coordinated search and rescue operation aimed at recovering the abducted students and arresting the perpetrators,” the spokesperson said.

Also Read | Trump adds Nigeria in US watch list, says Christians face 'existential threat' Kidnapping Crisis

Nigeria is grappling with a multidimensional security challenge, specifically from amorphous groups of armed bandits who specialise in kidnapping for ransoms - sometimes amounting to thousands of pounds - and have been responsible for several high-profile abductions across the nation's northern region. Kidnappings, attacks on villages, and incidents along major roads have become commonplace due to the limited security presence.

These bandits are not linked to militant groups such as Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), whose attacks on communities and government installations are religiously motivated.

“We were told that the attackers entered the school with many motorcycles. They first went straight to the teacher's house and killed him before killing the guard,” said Abdulkarim Abdullahi Maga.

Also Read | Gambling, Crypto's Grip on Nigerians Is Hurting Capital Markets

Armed groups have targeted schoolchildren in the region since 2014, when Boko Haram abducted 276 students from Chibok in Borno State. That mass abduction marked the start of a new era of fear, and dozens remain in captivity.

Since the Chibok kidnappings, at least 1,500 students have been seized, as armed groups increasingly find abductions a lucrative method to fund other crimes and control villages in the nation's mineral-rich but poorly policed region.

In March 2024, more than 130 schoolchildren were rescued after spending over two weeks in captivity in the Nigerian state of Kaduna.

Nonetheless, raids on schools have subsided in recent years as state governments have implemented security measures in hotspots, including the extended closure of educational establishments.

MENAFN17112025007365015876ID1110357032