Pascal Arogorn Ibe
Students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, yesterday gave a distressing account of the night they spent in the bushes following the Friday’s siege on their school by bandits.
Many of the students are still missing while their parents said they are in distress. They called on relevant authorities to rescue their wards.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that hundreds of motorcycle riding bandits, armed with sophisticated weapons, attacked the boys’ school in Kankara town of Katsina State at night.
During the attack, hundreds of students scaled through the fences of the school in search of safety while the rampaging bandits kept shooting and asking the fleeing students to return.
The attack on the school took place a few hours after President Muhammadu Buhari landed in Katsina and proceeded to Daura, his hometown for a week-long private visit.
The siege at the Kankara science school was one of the several attacks in towns and villages in Katsina State between Thursday and Friday, where bandits killed some people and abducted others to unknown locations.
An SS1 student, Kabir Isah, who was amongst those who spent the night in the bush after they fled, said the whole incident was like a dream.
According to him, “We left classes after our night prep around 9:30 pm and retired to our dormitories. At about 10:30 pm, after some of us had gone to bed, we began to hear gunshots and the senior students rushed to our hostels to wake us up.
“While some of them said we should run for our lives, others said we should gather in the hostels first to monitor the situation before the next line of action.
“When we heard the sounds of the gunshots getting closer, we all ran towards the fence and jumped over to the bushes. The gunmen then began to call us back, saying that nothing will happen to us,” he said.
“We ran for some hours into the bush and gathered somewhere under the trees and sat until when we heard the early morning call to prayer,” he said.
He said those trapped in the school lost their phones and money to the bandits.
Kabir told Daily Trust on Sunday that most of the students sustained injuries while jumping over the fence and running into the bus.
“But we thank God that we are back home because we learnt that others were kidnapped by the attackers,” he said.
A prefect who does not want his name mentioned, said the Friday night incident was like a film.
“Some of us thought it was the end of time…The gunshots were thunderous. I think the attackers wanted to kill everyone, maybe just to hit the headlines because as students, we don’t have anything to give them.
“And almost all of us are children of the poor and so, I was wondering whether they wanted to abduct us for money or just to kill us the way they are killing people without any reason,” he said.
Another student who gave his name as Yunusa, said: “We ran and ran for hours in the bush. Whenever we wanted to stop, we had no option but to continue because we were afraid and traumatized. It was when we got exhausted that some of us gathered under a tree waiting for the dawn,” he said.
Mukhtar, another student in the school said he will go back to his parents until the security situation is improved. “You have to be alive before you can become something in life. Honestly, I am disappointed that this is the state where the president hails from.
“From what we are seeing, there is the likelihood that one day every other person would be killed in Katsina and neighbouring states by bandits who now rule like emperors.
“We spent the night in the bush and some of us that returned are just lucky. I am sure some of those that missed their bearing would end up in the bandits’ den. It was traumatic because there was no water for us to drink and we were all exhausted,” he said.
In another development, heavily armed men attacked Yar Kuka village also in Kankara LGA on Thursday where 12 people were reportedly killed and some others abducted.
A resident of the village whose daughter was kidnapped told our reporter that the bandits invaded their village around 9:30 pm and started shooting indiscriminately, killing 12 people and abducting six women.
“Three of the abducted women are married and my daughter is one, while the remaining three are young girls.”
Also on Thursday, gunmen attacked Dan Ali village in Danmusa Local Government Area where they abducted a retired education officer identified as Sani Skido.
A resident of the village said the attackers who came at around midnight, shot at the door of the room where the victim was hiding in his house. Traces of blood were seen in his room after he was taken away.
Similarly, three travellers were reported abducted on Friday by unidentified gunmen on their way from Danmusa to Maidabino village in Danmuasa.
A resident of Danmusa said the travellers, who were on their way back from Benin in Edo State, were intercepted and their vehicle abandoned at the scene of the abduction.
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