PFN, CAN Tackle FG As Bandits Abduct 140 Students In Kaduna. Bandits in the early hours of Monday invaded the Bethel Baptist High School, Maraban Rido in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and whisked away no fewer than 140 students.
A teacher in the school, Emmanuel Paul, in an interview with journalists, said 140 students were abducted by the bandits, who attacked the school located along the Kaduna-Kachia highway at 1am.
“They came at 1am and made away with 140 students,” he said.
However, the police said a few hours after the abduction, security agents rescued 26 of the abducted students.
The abduction generated angry reactions from the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and the Christian Association of Nigeria, Kaduna State chapter. The groups, in separate interviews, urged the Federal Government to devise fresh strategies to stop incessant abductions in the country.
Recall that eight students and two teachers of the Kaduna State-owned Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria, who were abducted on June 10, have not been released.
A few hours after the latest kidnapping in Kaduna, it was learnt that two security agents were killed by the bandits who laid an ambush after the incident.
A source said, “We learnt that after rescuing some of the students, two of the security operatives were killed during an ambush by the bandits.”
It also was learnt the bandits broke the perimeter fence and went straight to the boys’ hostel, where they forcefully led some students to the girls hostel.
A student, who escaped to the back of the hostel during the raid, said the abducted schoolboys were made to stay in front of girls’ hostel where female students were forced out and jointly taken away with the boys.
A parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said when the bandits arrived at the school, “They started shooting sporadically and headed straight to the boys hostel. They had a field day before proceeding to the female hostel. From there, they took the students into the bush through the broken perimeter fencing.”
Following the abduction, aggrieved parents barricaded the Kaduna – Kachia highway and called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state.
There was commotion as some of the parents stormed the school as early as 4am when they learnt about the attack.
The protesting parents, who sat in the middle of the highway and refused to leave, vowed that they would remain in the school until they were reunited with their children.