One person has reportedly been killed with many others, including final year students of a Junior Secondary School (JSS) abducted in Kaduna state on Monday, August 24.
The gunmen, who stormed Damba-Kasaya community killed one person and abducted many of the villagers, then later raided Prince Academy to abduct Junior Secondary School (JSS3) students.
Those kidnapped are said to be some JSS 3 students who were preparing for the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) before the armed men took them away this morning.
Kaduna State Police Command was yet to confirm the incident and the number of those abducted, as at the time of filing this report.
However, a resident of the community, Wakili Bawa told journalists;
The bandits came in large numbers like they always do and were shooting sporadically. Besides, the bandits also destroyed musical and public address system worth thousands of naira in Aminchi Baptist Church, located in the community.
The source added;
They abducted many people in the village. Then they went to Prince Academy and abducted many of the students who were receiving lessons for their JSS3 exams. I cannot say how many people were kidnapped but they went away with many people.
Bawa stressed;
Soldiers who came to their rescue, turned back after some few kilometres, leaving some of the villagers who accompanied them to rescue the victims. The villagers, not knowing that the soldiers had withdrawn, kept pursuing the bandits in the bush, the bandits fired at them and one person was killed.
Monday’s attack comes a week after the state government announced that JSS3 students in the state would resume classes on August 16 and 17.
The Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Education, Phoebe Yayi, had explained in a statement that the government approved the resumption dates to allow the students prepare for the BECE which commenced on August 24.
