Twenty-seven students, three staff and 12 family members were abducted in the Wednesday morning attack on Government Science College, Kagara in Rafi local government of Niger state.
Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello, who confirmed this to newsmen in Minna, said the attack occured at around 2 am on Wednesday.
He disclosed one student, Benjamin Doma, was shot dead in the attack. It was gathered that there were about 650 students in the school.
BREAKING: Gunmen On School Uniform Storm Govt College, Kill Student, Abduct Many Others
The Governor declared all boarding schools in Rafi, Mariga, Munya and Shiroro local government areas would be closed until further notice.
The Governor also confirmed the video making rounds in the state of bandits celebrating abduction of passengers of the NSTA bus attacked on Sunday where they demanded N500 million.
Bello said the government will not pay ransom, stressing the bandits would use the money to buy sophisticated weapons and cause further harm.
“It is not in our policy as a government to pay ransom to bandits because we have noticed that they use this sand money to buy arms and ammunition.
“However,the government will be ready to support and assist repentant bandits,” the Governor said.
Niger Students Abduction: Governor Vow Not To Pay Ransom To Kidnappers
He said the government is concerned over the recent bandit attacks in the state, which he admitted have become more brazen and daring.
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He asked for immediate intervention from the Federal Government to rescue the students and other abducted persons from the hands of the bandits.
“We are deeply concerned at these recent sad events and are asking the federal government to deploy every necessary resources while we will look at all options, both kinetic and non-kinetic to ensure the safe return of the victims of both incidences.
“We will not rest or sleep until we bring them back to their families.”
Bello assured of the safe return of the victims, saying the government will not sleep until they have got all the abducted persons back.
“Tension is high and the situation is very serious. We are saddened by all these development.
“We have been having attacks before and we have been working to settle it but in these past few days, the attacks have been so daring that it caught our attention. We pray that God will show us the way of getting them back safely,” he said.
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