“They Were Young Men In Army Camouflage, Speaking Fulani” – Wife of Kebbi Vice Principal Killed by Bandits

Amina Hassan, wife of the late vice principal of Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School Gada in Kebbi State, has provided a detailed account of the harrowing early-morning attack that claimed her husband’s life and left the community in shock.

The Kebbi State Police Command confirmed that at least 25 students were abducted from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area, in the assault that occurred around 4 a.m. on Monday. CSP Nafi’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi, the Police Public Relations Officer, stated that one staff member was killed and another injured during the attack. The bandits reportedly scaled the school fence, forced their way into the hostel, and engaged officers on duty in a gun battle.

Amina Hassan recounted that the family was asleep around 3:30 a.m. when she first heard unusual footsteps near their home and the school hostel. Initially thinking the noise was from cows entering the farm, she woke her husband to alert him. She then noticed the door opening and saw armed men in army camouflage uniforms.

“They threatened to kill my husband if he did anything strange. My husband pleaded that they allow him to pray before they executed him, and they did. He was shot after saying his last prayer,” Hassan said. When she attempted to approach her husband, the attackers threatened to kill her.

The bandits also tried to abduct her, but she refused to go with them. The children were instructed to lie down inside the house while the attackers carried out the assault. After the bandits left, Hassan and the children cautiously tried to leave, noting that the assailants had surrounded the house and the school hostels.

Hassan identified the attackers as young men wearing army camouflage uniforms. She said three of them were inside the hostel while the rest remained outside, and she inferred from their voices that they were likely Fulani.

The attack has left families in Kebbi State reeling, as the abduction of the 25 schoolgirls and the killing of the vice principal underline the growing insecurity facing educational institutions in the region. Authorities have launched an investigation, but the details of the students’ whereabouts remain unclear.