Gunmen Storm Kebbi Boarding School, Abduct 25 Girls and Kill Vice Principal in Latest Northwest Atrocity

Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria – November 18, 2025
In a brazen pre-dawn assault that has sent shockwaves through Nigeria’s already beleaguered northwest, armed bandits raided a government girls’ boarding school in Kebbi State, abducting 25 female students and gunning down the school’s vice principal. The attack, which unfolded around 4 a.m. on Monday at the Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area, underscores the relentless grip of banditry on the region, where schools—meant to be sanctuaries of learning—have become perilous targets.
Eyewitness accounts and official statements paint a harrowing picture of the raid. A large gang of assailants, wielding sophisticated rifles and firing sporadically into the night air, breached the school’s perimeter after infiltrating the area via dense forests bordering neighboring Zamfara State. The gunmen, who locals described as operating with chilling impunity despite the presence of two nearby military checkpoints, stormed the girls’ dormitories and herded the terrified students into the darkness. The assault lasted over 20 minutes, with no immediate intervention from security forces on site.
Among the victims was Malam Hassan Yakubu Makuku, the school’s dedicated vice principal, who reportedly lost his life while attempting to shield the students from harm. “He stood between the bandits and the girls, sacrificing himself in a moment of unimaginable bravery,” one local source told reporters, his voice cracking with grief. A security guard, Ali Shehu, sustained a gunshot wound to his right hand during the chaos but survived. Unidentified bodies were later spotted on the school premises, though police have not yet confirmed additional fatalities.
The Kebbi State Police Command swiftly confirmed the incident in a statement issued by spokesperson CSP Nafiu Abubakar Kotarkoshi. “On November 17, 2025, at about 0400hrs, information received revealed that a gang of armed bandits with sophisticated weapons, shooting sporadically, stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Danko district, Danko/Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State,” Kotarkoshi said. He noted that police tactical units stationed at the school engaged the attackers in a brief gun duel, but the bandits escaped with their captives into the surrounding forests.
In response, a multi-agency rescue operation has been mobilized, comprising police operatives, military personnel, and local volunteers. Teams are combing escape routes and forested hideouts in a coordinated bid to track the gunmen and secure the girls’ safe return. By mid-morning Monday, Nigerian Air Force fighter jets were observed hovering overhead, providing aerial surveillance to support ground efforts. Kebbi State Police Commissioner CP Bello M. Sani emphasized the command’s “unwavering determination in safeguarding the lives and property of the residents,” vowing that no stone would be left unturned.
The Federal Government echoed this resolve in a strongly worded condemnation released later in the day. “The attack on innocent schoolchildren is a barbaric act that no civilized society can tolerate,” a statement from the presidency read, pledging full federal support for the rescue mission and reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to protecting its citizens amid the scourge of banditry. No ransom demands have been made public as of press time, and no group has claimed responsibility, though such abductions are typically linked to amorphous criminal networks seeking extortion payments rather than ideological motives.
This tragedy strikes a raw nerve in a nation scarred by a decade of school kidnappings. The 2014 abduction of 276 girls by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno State, remains a festering wound, with dozens still unaccounted for and serving as a grim benchmark for the vulnerability of Nigeria’s educational institutions. More recently, in March 2024, over 250 pupils were seized from a school in Kuriga, Kaduna State—the second such mass taking in a single week—prompting a similar outcry and military intervention. And in February 2021, hundreds of girls vanished from a Zamfara secondary school in an operation eerily reminiscent of today’s horror. These incidents, concentrated in the northwest’s porous borderlands, have displaced thousands, shuttered schools, and eroded trust in security apparatus, despite repeated government pledges to bolster defenses.
As parents and community leaders gathered outside the cordoned-off school on Monday, their anguish was palpable. “These girls were dreaming of a future—now they’ve been stolen away in the night,” wept one mother, clutching a faded school uniform. Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and UNICEF, decried the raid as a “gross violation of children’s rights,” urging swift action to prevent further targeting of educational spaces. With banditry fueled by weak governance, arms proliferation, and economic despair, experts warn that without holistic reforms—beyond reactive rescues—the cycle of violence will persist.
Clarion News will continue to monitor developments in this unfolding crisis, bringing you updates as the search for the 25 girls intensifies. In a nation where the right to education hangs by a thread, their safe return cannot come soon enough.