Niger State Governor Abubakar Bello has confirmed that 27 students, three staff and 12 relatives of students were abducted by gunmen at the Government Science College, Kagara, in Rafi Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday morning.
Bello made the confirmation at a news conference shortly after an emergency meeting with heads of security agencies in Minna.
Gunmen stormed the school at 2 am, leaving one student Benjamin Doma dead in the process.
The governor directed that all boarding schools in Shiroro, Rafi and Muyan be closed down with immediate effect until the situation improved.
“I call on all Nigerlites to condemn all forms of criminality in the state,” he said.
Bello also said the state government would not pay ransom to the gunmen in order to secure the release of the victims, but that it was ready to receive any bandit willing to surrender.
“When you negotiate and pay ransom to criminals, they will use the money to purchase more weapons,” he said.
The school has a total of 650 students.
This comes in the wake of the abduction of 40 people travelling from Kontagora to Minna on February 14.
