The widow of the slain Chief Security Officer and teacher at Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, Amina Hassan Makuku, has narrated tearfully how her husband was shot dead in her presence during the abduction of 25 schoolgirls by armed bandits.
Amina said the attack started at about 4am on Monday while she and her husband were sleeping in their quarters on the school premises. She recalled hearing the door open and waking her husband, thinking it might be livestock-but armed men burst in moments later.
“They ordered him to take them to the school hostel, and when he refused, they shot him,” she recounted, her voice trembling. “I rushed to hold him, but they pushed me aside and moved on. I heard the screams of the girls as they were taken away. It’s a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”
Parents of the abducted students are living in fear and anguish.
Lawal Altine, whose three daughters attend the school, said one escaped by hiding in a toilet while two others remain missing. Another parent, Fatima Ibrahim, begged for the safe return of the girls, saying “I just want my daughter back.”
Kebbi State Governor Dr. Nasir Idris visited the school to console families and promised that every effort would be made to rescue the students. Security agencies, comprising the police, military, and vigilantes, have launched search-and-rescue operations ordered by top military leadership.
But the crisis deepened Sunday night with emerging revelations that security operatives may have ignored credible intelligence from the Department of State Services. Sources revealed that the DSS warned the school was likely to be attacked and recommended emergency deployment, to which officials initially complied but security personnel reportedly abandoned the school shortly before the attack.
Governor Idris described the situation as “clear sabotage,” reminding how past failures to act upon intelligence led to mass kidnappings, such as the 2020 Kankara school abduction.
A special investigation panel headed by the Kebbi DSS director has been established to establish what went wrong and ensure the safe return of the girls. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shuaibu, has instructed the troops to track down the abductors and rescue the girls, adding that “success is not optional.” The Nigerian Air Force also vowed to intensify its air strikes and intelligence-led operations against terrorist networks. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives urged President Bola Tinubu to adopt new strategies to curtail the rising cases of kidnapping and violence in Zamfara and other parts of the country.
