Armed bandits surrounded the premises housing two schools – a secondary and primary – in Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State in the morning yesterday. They ordered everybody in sight to march into the nearby bush.
A teacher, who escaped narrated the story to Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani.
According to him 287 pupils and teachers were kidnapped.
But, there was no independent confirmation of the number of those abducted given by the teacher last night.
Governor Sani suspended other engagements to visit the Kuriga Primary and Secondary School scene of the abduction for first-hand information late yesterday.
The governor assured that all the abducted pupils would be rescued unhurt “by the grace of God”.
Mr. Sani Abdullahi, who teaches in the secondary school, gave the graphic details of the gunmen’s invasion before the governor, senior government officials and top security chief.
The team also visited the palace of Kuriga Village Head, Sarki Ilyasu Mohammed.
Abdullahi said: “I resumed at the school today (yesterday) at exactly 7:47am. I entered the Acting Principal’s office and signed. All of a sudden, the Acting Principal asked me to look at my back and when I turned, we discovered that bandits had surrounded the school premises.
“We were confused; we didn’t know where to go; then, the bandits asked us to enter the bush, we obeyed them because they were many and the pupils, who were about 700, were following us. So, when we entered the bush, I was lucky to escape alongside many other people.
“So, I returned to the village and reported what happened to the community. Immediately our vigilante and personnel of Kaduna State Vigilante Service (KADVS) followed the bandits, but they did not succeed. In fact, the bandits killed one of the vigilante, we just buried him.
“It was when we came back from that pursuit that we briefed the Village Head and we started making efforts to know the actual number of pupils and teachers taken away by the bandits.
“At GSS, Kuriga, 187 pupils are missing. In the primary school, 125 pupils were initially missing, but 25 of them escaped and returned home,” he narrated.
The governor, who likened the abducted children to his own, said everything possible would be done to ensure all the children return home unhurt.
Understanding, harnessing Sani’s panacea for security in Kaduna and beyond
Sani said: “In my capacity as your elected governor, I am assuring you that, by the grace of God, all the children will return unhurt.
“Before coming here, I spoke with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu and we are making efforts, the security forces have swung into action and by God’s grace, we will rescue the children.
“We will do whatever we need to do to ensure safe return of these children, even if it means coming to Kuriga to stay with you. The essence of government is protection of citizens’ lives and property. We recognize the fact that, we are holding this position in trust for the people and by God’s grace, we will protect the citizens’ rights.
“I am one of the prominent voices on the issue of security. When I was in the Senate, I moved the motion for the creation of state police. We have realized that, there are not enough men on ground; that is why we feel that with state police, every community, like Kuriga, will have people in the police and they would be armed with AK47 rifles. That is the only way we would be able to protect the lives and property of the citizens.
“The vigilantes are not as armed as the bandits because they have AK47; that is why the bandits are constantly causing us destruction. They come in to humiliate, kill and abduct our citizens.
“Since I received the sad news of this incident, I have not had rest of mind because every child in Kaduna State is my child. So, I don’t want to you people to be disturbed. Let’s us pray to God to help and on our part as a government, we will not rest until these children return home.
“We are going to select seven people from this community, who will be part of a committee, where we would be having discussions,” the governor said.
He also promised to facilitate the establishment of a police station and build a permanent camp for the military within the community.
The village head, pleaded with the governor to improve security in their community and ensure quick and safe return of the pupils.
He said: “All that is needed, the governor has done it. By coming to sympathize with us shows how he cares about his people, most especially the vulnerable.
“I am pleading that you should do everything possible to bring the children back home and provide security for the people of the village.”
The villagers, who were at the palace, applauded Governor Sani for coming to Kuriga to identify with them during their trying moment.
