By John Shiklam in Kaduna
Six schoolgirls and two of their teachers have been abducted by gunmen at the Engraver’s College in Kakau Daji, Chikun local government area of Kaduna state.
The bandits were said to have invaded the school around midnight by breaking the school fence.
Kakau Daji is a village located along the dreaded Kaduna-Abuja road, where kidnapping and banditry are rampant.
Spokesman of the Kaduna state police command, Yakubu Sabo, who confirmed the incident said the gunmen invaded the school through the fence.
In a statement, Sabo said a combined team of police mobile force and anti-kidnapping squad had commenced a manhunt for the kidnappers with a view to rescuing the victims and apprehending the culprits.
He said ”the command received information through DPO (Divisional Police Officer) Toll Gate, in the early hours of today (Thursday) 03/10/2019 at about 0310hrs that, some armed men gained entry into the Engravers College, a Boarding secondary school in a remote area near Kakau Daji village in Chikun L.G.A and took away two staff of the college and six (6) female students to unknown destination.”
The statement said on receipt of the information, the command immediately mobilised a combined team of anti-kidnapping, SARS, and conventional police to the area to rescue the victims and arrest the perpetrators of the unfortunate incident.
Sabo said the “IGP’s Intelligent Respond team (IRT) has been contacted for technical support.
”The command therefore, is using this opportunity to reiterate its call on all the private school proprietors within the state to liaise with their nearest police formation and promptly report incidents or suspicious persons around schools to forestall future occurrence of ugly incidents.”
The statement assured that the Kaduna state police commissioner, Mr. Ali Aji Janga, was doing everything possible to secure the release of all the victims unhurt.
The statement equally called on the members of the public not to relent in giving the Police prompt and useful information at all times.
Meanwhile the Kaduna state government has condemned the invasion of the school, saying that Governor Nasir el-Rufai has dispatched a government delegation to sympathise with the school community and assure them that security agencies are working to rescue the abducted persons.
In a statement on Thursday in Kaduna, the Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, said “the Kaduna State Government condemns this as a despicable action, a most unfortunate intrusion of crime into the life of young students and the staff teaching them.
“Governor Nasir El-Rufai has despatched a government delegation to sympathise with the school community and assure them that security agencies are working to rescue the abducted persons.
“The state government delegation was led by Samuel Aruwan, the Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs.
“ Accompanied by security agencies, the commissioner spoke to parents and staff of the school and assured them that every effort will be exerted to free the abductees and punish this brazen crime. The school management and the parents of the students will be given updates as appropriate.“
