Armed men, believed to be bandits, have abducted an unspecified number of students of Islamiyya school in Mahuta town, Dandume Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The Herald Nigeria have reliably gathered that the the Islamic students were on their way home after they graced a maulud procession at Unguwar Al-Kasim, a nearby village, when the gunmen attacked and abducted them.
As of time of publication, the exact number of the students abducted could not be verified yet.
The Katsina State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Gambo Isah, was contacted in the wake of the abduction.
Isah was quoted as saying that he was away from the state on an official capacity and could make no comments regarding the incident.
The fresh attack occurs only after a few days since gunmen invaded the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara.
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In the near 1-week saga that rocked the country, 344 school boys were abducted.
The Nigerian Air Force and Army combined in what officials report was a total “siege” of the location of the abducted schoolboys.
The Air Force was reported to have supplied air support to complement the efforts of ground troops.
“Additional NAF Special Forces personnel were also deployed to provide support,” the force had said after the 344 Kankara schoolboys were returned safely to their parents.
Major Gen John Enenche, the Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, and retired Maj.-Gen. Ahmed Jibrin, former Director, Military Intelligence, gave the accounts on Saturday when they featured on a special edition of the Nigeria Television Authority programme, “Good Morning Nigeria.”
“Following the directive, the troops closed in on the abductors from four different fronts, including the reinforcement that was made from other divisions to ensure that the entire location was sealed off,” Enenche explained.
“The bandits were all under siege and they were fully aware of that, feeling the impacts of the presence of the troops both from the air and on the ground.
“When they approached the location where the boys were held, the troops encountered some pockets of opposition which they cleared and moved deeper into the forest.
“Although there was no casualty on the part of the boys, a lot of the bandits were neutralised because in the attempt by the military to move forward, they laid ambush in two places along the way.
“In fact, in the second place where they laid ambush, there was serious resistance because they were hiding and occupied the road.
“They delayed the movement of the troop for some hours before they were neutralised,’’ he said.