Fear, grief, and outrage have enveloped the ancient Zuru Emirate in Kebbi State following a deadly midnight assault by heavily armed bandits on Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS) Maga, located in the volatile Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area. In a chilling operation that lasted several hours, the attackers stormed the school premises under the cover of darkness, shot dead the institution’s Vice Principal, Malam Hassan Yakubu Makuku, and abducted an unspecified but significant number of female students.
How the Attack Unfolded: A Timeline of Terror
Eyewitnesses and surviving staff revealed that the bandits arrived around 1:15 a.m. on Sunday night, firing sporadically into the air to create panic. The gunmen, numbering over 50 and riding on motorcycles, quickly overpowered the school’s unarmed security guards.
- 1:20 a.m. – Bandits blow open the main gate with explosives.
- 1:25 a.m. – Sporadic gunshots echo across the school compound; students awaken in terror.
- 1:35 a.m. – Vice Principal Malam Hassan Yakubu Makuku, a veteran educationist in his late 50s, courageously confronts the invaders at the entrance of the girls’ hostel in a desperate attempt to protect the students.
- 1:40 a.m. – Makuku is shot multiple times at close range and dies instantly.
- 1:45 a.m. – 2:30 a.m. – Bandits move from room to room, rounding up screaming students and herding them into waiting vehicles and onto motorcycles.
- 2:45 a.m. – Attackers vanish into the surrounding forests toward the notorious Kamfani Forest, a known bandit enclave straddling Kebbi, Niger, and Zamfara states.
Who Was Malam Hassan Yakubu Makuku?
The slain Vice Principal was a respected figure in Zuru Emirate, known for his dedication to girl-child education in a region where cultural and security challenges have long hindered female schooling. Colleagues described him as “a father to hundreds of girls” who routinely stayed overnight on school premises to ensure the safety of boarding students.“He died a hero,” one teacher told reporters, fighting back tears. “He stood in their way and paid the ultimate price so that some of the girls could escape through the back fence.”
Scale of the Abduction Still Unknown – Parents in Agony
As of Monday morning, authorities have yet to release an official figure of missing students. Parents who rushed to the school at dawn were met with scenes of abandoned slippers, torn uniforms, and bloodstains near the hostel entrance.Preliminary reports from school registers and headcounts by distraught teachers suggest that between 40 and 80 students may have been taken, though some reportedly managed to flee into nearby bushes during the chaos.The Kebbi State Police Command has deployed anti-kidnapping squads and tactical units, while the Nigerian Army’s 8 Division in Sokoto has launched a joint air-and-ground pursuit operation.
Zuru Emirate: A Community Under Siege
The attack on GGCSS Maga is the latest in a string of violent incidents that have plagued the Zuru Emirate in recent years. Located in southern Kebbi, the emirate has become a prime target for bandit groups who use the vast, ungoverned forests as hideouts to launch attacks, rustle cattle, and kidnap for ransom. Residents say the frequency and audacity of attacks have reached unbearable levels:
- Schools repeatedly targeted despite military presence
- Farmers abandoning their fields out of fear
- Traditional rulers paying millions in “protection levies” to avoid assassination
The Emir of Zuru, His Royal Highness Alhaji Sani Yakubu Sami, has summoned an emergency security council and called on the federal government to declare a full-scale military emergency in the area.
National Outrage and Political Reactions
News of the attack has triggered widespread condemnation across Nigeria:
- President Bola Tinubu described the incident as “an assault on our future” and directed the military to “spare no effort” in rescuing the abducted girls and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
- Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris visited the school on Monday morning, visibly emotional as he consoled bereaved staff and parents.
- The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) labeled the attack “a declaration of war against education in northern Nigeria.”
- Civil society groups, including the Bring Back Our Girls movement, have announced plans for nationwide protests if the students are not rescued within 72 hours.
The Bigger Picture: Why Are Girls’ Schools Becoming Soft Targets?
Security analysts point to a disturbing pattern: bandit and terror groups deliberately target female students for several reasons:
- Higher ransom payments from desperate families and government
- Use of abducted girls as domestic slaves and forced brides in bandit camps
- Psychological warfare aimed at discouraging girl-child education in conservative communities
Since 2014, over 1,500 students – the majority of them girls – have been kidnapped from schools across northern Nigeria, with many still unaccounted for.
What Happens Next?
As search-and-rescue operations intensify, the people of Zuru Emirate are holding their breath. Military sources say intelligence suggests the abducted students may have been split into smaller groups and moved deeper into the Kamfani and Dansadau forest complexes – areas notorious for their inaccessibility. For now, the school remains deserted, its hostels eerily silent except for the cries of parents still hoping against hope that their daughters escaped into the night. The death of Malam Hassan Yakubu Makuku and the abduction of yet another generation of Nigerian schoolgirls serve as a grim reminder that the war against insecurity in the North-West is far from over. The nation watches. The world waits. And the people of Zuru Emirate pray for the safe return of their daughters. This is a developing story.
Updates will follow as more details emerge.
