Over 24 Students Abducted in Bandit Attack on Federal University of Gusau”
In the early hours of Friday, more than 24 students of the Federal University of Gusau were abducted when bandits raided the Sabon-Gida community in the Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
According to a student of the university who requested anonymity for security reasons, the majority of the abducted students were females.
Nazeer Sabon-Gida, a resident of the community, confirmed that the gunmen arrived at around 3 a.m. and began firing indiscriminately. They attacked three student hostels and abducted all the students present.
“They entered the town around 3 a.m. and started shooting indiscriminately,” he said. “We have yet to confirm the number of students kidnapped because the bandits entered three hostels and kidnapped all the students there. It is difficult to ascertain their numbers now.”
Another source reported that the bandits engaged in a fierce gun battle with Nigerian Army troops but still managed to escape with the kidnapped victims.
“They were seriously engaged with the army troops but the way these bandits operate, they will divide themselves into two, one group will move with the kidnapped victims while the other will stay behind to protect the first group,” the source explained.
“The first group had left with the students while the second group engaged the army in a gun duel.”
In June, students from the same university protested against the frequent abductions of their schoolmates in Sabon-Gida and Damba.
Sabon-Gida village is located opposite the main campus of the Federal University of Gusau, approximately 20 km from the state capital, Gusau.
Efforts to reach the school authorities were unsuccessful, as the school’s spokesperson, Umar Usman, did not respond to multiple phone calls.
The state police command has also not commented on the latest attack at the time of this report.