An early morning attack by gunmen on Wednesday at a government college in Niger State has left at least one student dead, while scores were kidnapped.
The attackers were said to have surrounded Government Science College, Kagara in Rafi Local Government Area of the state around 2 am and began to attack the students’ hostels. They were said to have started sporadically, and marched the students out of their hostels, and kidnapped them.
They also attacked some teachers and their family members at their residential quarters on the school premises and abducted them also.
According to reports, the attackers were reportedly dressed in the school uniform, showing that the attacked would have been planned in advance.
Unconfirmed reports said the dead student, who was said to have been shot in the head, was identified as Benjamin Doma.
In the process, a student was killed while some others sustained gunshots. Some staff of the College and their families were also abducted from their homes during the attack.
Senator Shehu Sani, a former student of the school, confirmed the attack via a tweet. “Early hours of this morning, Armed bandits stormed the Government Science College Kagara Niger State, my alma mata, and abducted some students and staff family members. I just spoke to the principal. This is the clip of one of my past visit to the School.
The Government College attack came barely three days after gunmen also attacked a bus belong to the Niger State Transport Authority and abducted at least 18 passengers.
The passengers were travelling to Minna, the state capital from Kotangora when the incident happened. The incident took place at Yakila village in Rafi Local Government Area of the state.
A video clip has surfaced on social media showing the kidnappers traumatizing the victims. The video shows the gunmen, armed with various arms, including hand-held rocket launchers, surrounding the victims and shooting to scare them. As they shoot and make their incantations, the victims, who include women and children could be heard screaming, some wiping their tears with their clothes.
