Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello of Niger State has confirmed that 27 students and three staff of Government Science College, Kagara, in Rafi local government area were abducted by gunmen on early Wednesday.
He confirmed too that 12 family members were also abducted by the gunmen.
The governor made the confirmation on Wednesday at a news conference shortly after an emergency meeting with heads of security agencies in Minna.
The gunmen stormed the school about about 2.00 a.m. on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, 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.
He called on the federal government to deploy all resources to secure the state, while the state government was doing everything possible to ensure safe return of the students and staff.
Governor Bello also said that the state government would not pay ransom to the suspected bandits in order to secure the release of their victims, but that it was ready to support any bandit who was ready to surrender their arms.
“When you negotiate and pay ransom to criminals, they will use the money to purchase more weapons,” he said.
Government Science College, Kagara, has a total of 650 students out of whom the 27 were abducted and one, Benjamin Doma, was killed by the hoodlums.
40 passengers travelling from Kontagora to Minna where abducted by suspected gunmen on February 14.
However, 8 out of the 40 passengers abducted, had regained freedom, while the remaining are still in the hands of their abductors who are demanding ransom.
