Thanks to the Nigerian Army who intercepted the deadly gunmen when they invaded the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, Igabi Local Government Area, located opposite the permanent site of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).
They were almost making away with 219 victims students and staff of the college when soldiers from the NDA stormed the scene, engaged the bandits in a gun duel and thwarted the raid and rescued 180 out of the 219 kidnapped.
The Kaduna State Government said last night that 39 others were still missing.
A similar attempt by gunmen also on Friday to kidnap students of Turkish International Secondary School, Rigachikun, Kaduna State, was foiled by soldiers.
But it was not immediately known whether the two raids were carried out by the same group.
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Sources said the gunmen cleverly avoided entering the College of Forestry Mechanization from the main gate in order not to attract the attention of soldiers from the nearby NDA.
Instead, they opted for the back of the school compound where they knocked some bricks off the school’s perimeter fence to create a huge opening through which they gained entry.
They first went to the male students’ hostel which was close to the breached fence and later the female hostel.
That was when they started shooting. Mrs Angelina Babale, mother of one of the missing girls, said she was praying when she heard gunshots from the direction of the school at about 11.30pm.
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She said: “I live close to the college. I was praying at night and at about 11: 30 I heard sporadic gunshots and I thought it was within our area.
“I ran to the village head’s house. There I met a large crowd of people.
“The village head said the gunshots were from the Forestry College, but we could not go there. I started calling my daughter, Blessing Babale, who is a student in the school, but her line was not going.
“So, this morning we came to the school and we were told that some of the students were at Ribadu Cantonment. We sent one of my husband’s brothers to go and find out if she was there only to discover that she was not there.
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“The stories of students’ abduction that we hear from far away have come near us.
“It is so bad that at home we are not safe, in schools our children are equally not safe.
“The government has to do something to stop all these abductions. I am worried and my prayer is for her and others to be released safely.”
Another parent, Mr Sunday Hai, said his daughter, Sarah Sunday, returned to the school hours before the raid.
He said: “My daughter is schooling here. I came to confirm whether she is around or not. I am just confused. I called her line this morning but later it was switched off.
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“She came home on Wednesday to collect money for some things she needed ahead of her exams next week.
“I just gave her the money yesterday and she returned immediately. If I knew something like this was going to happen, I would not have allowed her to return yesterday.
“I don’t know whether we have security in this country, because if actually we have security, see NDA here very close to the school, then how is it possible that they will come into the school and start abducting students? I am just confused.
“I was told they (bandits) broke in through the back and started the abduction. Then the security operatives came in through the gate.”
Bitrus Shekari who has two of his children in the school said one was taken away by the bandits while the other is safe.
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Markus Mathew, an off-campus student, said though he was not in the school premises when the gunmen carried out the attack, his classmates called him during the operation.
He said: “The school was to close on Monday because of what happened at the airport last week, but the security people told them (school’s authorities) not to worry; that they were on top of the situation.
“I stay off campus. I learnt of the attack yesterday night around 11:30 PM.
“I was even planning to move to the school hostel in preparation for our exam which is billed to start next Thursday. The school is close to military institutions and we felt we were safe.
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“We have NDA, an army division not far from here. So, I never expected this to happen.
“I am in shock. I have lost interest in schooling. I think we are in trouble in this country.
“From my checks now, five female and eight male students from my department are missing.”
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