Seven out of the 317 female students abducted at the Jangebe Government Girls Secondary School in Zamfara State have escaped from their abductors.
A source who spoke with Channels Television from Jangebe town via a phone call on Friday evening confirmed that the girls returned home on their own as they claimed they manoeuvred their way back from the bandits while trekking along the forest.
According to the source, the escaped students said more had also escaped and are expected back soon.
The girls were abducted from their boarding school in the early hours of Friday.
In reaction to the development, the Zamfara Police Commissioner, CP Abutu Yar, had earlier said a joint search and rescue operation was already underway with a view to rescuing all 317 students.
CP Yaro said the Force Commander Operations Hadarin Daji, Major General Aminu Bande, Brigade Commander 1 Brigade, Nigeria Army Gusau, and other state government officials led a heavily armed Re-enforcement team to Jangebe to complement the ongoing rescue operation in the locations where the students were believed to have been whisked to.
The Commissioner while interfacing with the Principal of the school and the parents, appealed to everyone to remain calm assuring them that the joint efforts of the police and other security agencies will surely lead to a successful rescue of the students.
Meanwhile, the state Governor, Bello Matawalle, has ordered the immediate closure of all boarding schools in the state.
“As we are making efforts to strengthen security around our schools, I have directed the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools across the State,” Matawalle said in an evening broadcast.
One Abduction Too Many?
This comes less than a week after armed men attacked the Government Science College Kagara in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, abducting dozens of students and staff and killing one.
The incident started at about 2:00 am last Wednesday with the gunmen who were said to have worn military uniforms, shooting sporadically before whisking away their captives to an unknown destination.
Prior to that, over 300 students of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State were also abducted.
They were, however, all rescued shortly after.
