The presidency on Saturday night revealed that the Nigerian army, backed by the airforce, has located the enclave of bandits at Zango/Paula forest.
Bibian Anekwe News reports that this is following the attack and abduction of over 200 students of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated that there had been exchanged of fire between troops and the bandits in an attempt to rescue the students.
He said the latest update came “in the latest briefing received by the President from Governor Aminu Bello Masari, with whom he has been in touch, and the Army Chief of Staff, General Tukur Buratai.”
Shehu quoted the police as saying that so far there has not been reported any student casualty.
Bibian Anekwe News reports that Gunmen stormed the State Security Secondary School (GSSS) on Friday night, some of the students who spent the night in the forest where they fled to seek refuge returned on Saturday morning.
An SS1 student, Kabir Isah, one of those who spent the night in the bush, told Daily Trust how much he suffered and how he felt for his fellow students.
“We left the classroom after leaving school at 9.00 pm and returned to our dormitories.”
“At about 10.30 am when some of us were already in bed, we just heard gunshots and the senior students rushed to the scene.”
“While some of them advised us to for safety, others asked us to gather in dormitories and begin to understand the situation before taking the next step.”
“As we heard gunshots getting closer, we approached the school fence and scaled into the bush.”
“It was then that the gunmen started calling us saying nothing would happen to us, but eventually they took money and phones from those who were stuck at the school.”
“We ran for about three hours in the forest, before gathering in a place under the trees and staying awake until we first heard the call for dawn prayers.”
“Most of us were injured while scaling the fence and while running in the bush, but thank God we returned home only to find out that some of the students had been abducted by the attackers,” he said.
