Some gunmen suspected to be bandits have abducted over 300 schoolgirls at Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in the Talata-Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

A staff of the school, who begged for anonymity,  said the bandits arrived in the school around 1am on Friday with Hilux vehicles and motorcycles and forcefully evacuated the students.

He narrated that some of the bandits were in uniforms and pretended to be security personnel, then later broke into the students hostels and abducted more than 300 students.

“When they came into the school, we thought they were security personnel but to our utmost fear and dismay, they started putting the girls into Hilux vehicles and motorcycles then drove out of the school,” the source said, adding that the bandits were in the school for several hours without any challenge due to absence of the security agents.

A parent of one of the girls, who gave his name as Malam Lawal Jangebe, said, “I nearly fainted when I heard about the abduction of the students including my daughter.”

Confirming the incident on phone, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Shehu, said, “We are right now on our way going to the school where the incident happened.”

Shehu said that, the police would brief the press when they returned from Jangebe town where the students were abducted.

The Zamfara abduction occurred some eight days after gunmen kidnapped dozens of students and workers of Government Science College in Kagara, Niger State.

Bandits had also last year kidnapped over 300 schoolboys from Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State.

Aside from Kankara and Kagara, non-state actors had also abducted hundreds of secondary school girls from Chibok, in Borno State; and Dapchi in Yobe State.