3 Dead in Nigerian School Attack as Gunmen Attempt Mass Kidnapping
The assault targeted Government Secondary School in Iluke Bunu, located in the Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, when a heavily armed convoy of gunmen riding approximately 40 motorcycles overran the school and surrounding community at around 10 a.m., according to the Kogi State Police Command.
Police spokesperson Saliu Afusat confirmed that security forces responded to distress calls from local residents and engaged the attackers directly. "The combined security operatives engaged the hoodlums in a fierce gun duel, forcing the criminals to flee into the surrounding bush," Afusat said in a statement.
The deceased were identified as Ganiyu Anifowose, vice principal of UBE Secondary/Primary School, Iluke; 70-year-old Sunday Alhassan; and six-year-old Sunday Ayele. One attacker was killed during the exchange of fire, and a member of the joint security team sustained gunshot injuries and is undergoing medical treatment.
"Preliminary findings indicate that there is presently no conclusive evidence of a successful mass abduction of students or other residents. However, investigations and ongoing assessments are continuing to ascertain the full circumstances surrounding the incident," the statement said.
The attack is the latest in a disturbing pattern of school-targeted violence across Nigeria. In April, gunmen abducted 26 individuals, including pupils, from Daarul Kitab Islamic School and Orphanage in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital — 17 were subsequently rescued. In May, 39 students and seven teachers were seized during coordinated raids on three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, including Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota, Community Grammar School, and L.A. Primary School in Esin-Ele — one of the largest school abductions on record in the state. Also in May, at least 42 pupils were taken from a primary school in Mussa village in Borno State, near Sambisa Forest, a known stronghold of the Boko Haram insurgency.
School kidnappings have persisted as a chronic security crisis in Nigeria since Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in northeastern Borno State in 2014, with armed groups — particularly in the country's northern and central regions — repeatedly targeting educational institutions, largely for ransom.
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