Scholar escapes as authorities seek for 24 different ladies kidnapped in Nigeria : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2000x1333+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0b%2Fd7%2F697d45be460fa6e9d8ad2278df28%2Fap25322427572050.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2000x1333+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0b%2Fd7%2F697d45be460fa6e9d8ad2278df28%2Fap25322427572050.jpg" class="img" alt="A view of the school bus of the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, where gunmen on Monday attacked the school dormitory and abducted schoolgirls, is seen in Kebbi, Nigeria, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025." fetchpriority="high"/> A view of the varsity bus of the Authorities Ladies Complete Secondary Faculty, the place gunmen on Monday attacked the varsity dormitory and kidnapped schoolgirls, is seen in Kebbi, Nigeria, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Tunde Omolehin/AP conceal caption

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Tunde Omolehin/AP MAGA, Nigeria — A schoolgirl who was kidnapped with 24 others from a dormitory in northwestern Nigeria has escaped and is protected, the varsity's principal advised The Related Press on Tuesday, as hunters joined safety forces within the seek for the lacking college students in forests near the varsity.

The women had been kidnapped earlier than daybreak on Monday, when gunmen attacked the dorm on the Authorities Ladies Complete Secondary Faculty in Kebbi state's Maga city. Native police stated the gunmen scaled the fence to enter the varsity premises and exchanged gunfire with cops earlier than seizing the women and killing a employees member.

No group has claimed duty for taking the women, however analysts and locals say gangs of bandits typically goal colleges, vacationers and distant villagers in kidnappings for ransoms. Authorities say the bandits are largely former herders who've taken up arms in opposition to farming communities after clashes between them over strained assets.

Mass faculty kidnappings are particularly widespread in northern Nigeria, and the Kebbi faculty is near battle sizzling spots together with Zamfara and Sokoto states, the place a number of gangs are recognized to function and conceal out.

The coed who escaped arrived dwelling late Monday, hours after the kidnapping, in accordance with the varsity principal Musa Rabi Magaji. One other scholar was in a position to escape the gunmen within the minutes after the raid and was not kidnapped, the principal advised AP.

"They're protected and sound," Magaji stated.

A video verified by AP reveals the 2 schoolgirls, who seem like of their early teenagers, misplaced in thought and surrounded by household and different villagers, with hijabs overlaying their heads. Excessive schoolers in Nigeria are normally aged between 12 and 17.

Intensified rescue efforts Safety forces and hunters, in the meantime, have intensified efforts to seek out and rescue the others, native officers stated. Safety groups swept close by forests the place gangs typically conceal whereas others had been deployed alongside main roads resulting in the varsity.

Kebbi Gov. Nasir Idris visited the varsity on Monday and guaranteed of efforts to rescue the women, and Nigeria's Chief of Military Employees Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu met with troopers within the hours after the assault and directed "intelligence-driven operations and relentless day-and-night pursuit of the abductors," in accordance with a military assertion.

"We should discover these kids. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence. Success shouldn't be optionally available," the military chief stated.

Households recount predawn assault By Tuesday morning, the dorm and the classroom block — a strolling distance aside — had been abandoned. In Maga, households ready for information of their kids's freedom expressed anger and frustration.

Resident Abdulkarim Abdullahi, whose daughter and granddaughter — aged 13 and 10, respectively — had been among the many kidnapped kids, stated he overheard the noise from his home.

"I used to be at dwelling once I all of a sudden heard gunshots from the varsity. We had been advised that the attackers entered the varsity with many bikes," stated Abdullahi.

Amina Hassan, spouse of the varsity vice principal Hassan Yakubu Makuku, stated the assailants broke into their home, which is on the varsity premises, and fatally shot her husband. He was additionally the varsity's chief safety officer.

"Three of them entered and requested my husband, 'Are you Malam Hassan?' and he responded, 'Sure, I'm.' They advised him that we're right here to kill you," she advised the AP.

Faculty abductions are a method to attract consideration At the very least 1,500 college students have been seized within the area since Boko Haram jihadi extremists seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls over a decade in the past. However bandits are additionally energetic within the area, and analysts say gangs typically goal colleges to realize consideration.

Analysts and residents blame the insecurity on a failure to prosecute recognized attackers, and the rampant corruption that limits weapons provides to safety forces whereas making certain a gentle provide to the gangs.

"For instance individuals have been kidnapped within the markets — it does not go far, (or) if individuals have been kidnapped on the highway — it does not go far," stated Oluwole Ojewale, a safety analyst on the Institute for Safety Research. "What positive aspects traction is when (it's) strategic kidnapping, like faculty kids."