Kebbi Abduction Horror: Student Recounts Hiding in School Toilet as Bandits Kidnap Sisters and Classmates
By Fatima Ibrahim, Staff Writer
November 19, 2025
In a chilling account from the frontlines of Nigeria’s escalating bandit crisis, a teenage student in Kebbi State described locking herself in a school toilet to evade gunmen who stormed her dormitory, killing a vice principal and abducting 26 girls. The attack on Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School in Maga has ignited national outrage, with parents still pleading for their daughters’ safe return.
Bandits Storm School in Predawn Raid
The nightmare unfolded in the early hours of Monday, November 17, 2025, at the Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School in Maga, Danga Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State. Gunmen, believed to be bandits operating in the region’s volatile northwest, breached the school’s perimeter under the cover of darkness. Eyewitnesses reported hearing gunfire and screams as the attackers targeted the girls’ dormitory, where most students were asleep.
According to local reports, the assailants moved with ruthless efficiency, rounding up students and staff while demanding ransoms. The vice principal, whose identity has not been publicly released pending family notification, was fatally shot during the chaos, marking a tragic escalation in the violence that has plagued Kebbi and neighboring states. Security forces arrived too late to prevent the abductions, and the bandits vanished into the surrounding bush with their captives before dawn broke.
This incident is part of a disturbing pattern in northern Nigeria, where bandit groups have increasingly targeted educational institutions. Data from the Nigeria Security Tracker, maintained by the Council on Foreign Relations, indicates that school-related kidnappings in the northwest rose by 45% between 2023 and 2025, with over 1,200 students abducted in similar raids during that period.
Survivor’s Heart-Wrenching Escape: “I Hid Inside the Toilet”
Khadijat Lawal, a Senior Secondary School 3 (SS3) student at the school, provided a firsthand glimpse into the terror through her father, Malam Lawal Altine, who relayed her story to Daily Trust on Tuesday. “The day will remain etched in her memory for a long time,” Altine said, his voice heavy with relief and grief.
As the first shots rang out around 2 a.m., Khadijat instinctively fled her bed and barricaded herself in a nearby toilet. “She locked the door and crouched in silence, praying they wouldn’t find her,” Altine recounted. The 17-year-old could hear the bandits’ footsteps echoing through the halls, barking orders in Hausa and firing warning shots to subdue resistance. She remained hidden for hours, emerging only after the sounds of engines faded and the cries of frantic parents filled the air.
Khadijat’s quick thinking saved her life, but the ordeal left her traumatized. “She refused to open the door until she heard my voice,” her father added. Speaking from the family home in a nearby village, Altine described how he rushed to the school upon hearing the news, joining dozens of parents in a desperate search amid scattered belongings and bloodstains.
Family Devastated: Two Sisters Among the Missing
For the Lawal family, survival came at a devastating cost. Khadijat’s two younger sisters, both enrolled in junior secondary classes at the same school, were among the 26 students seized by the gunmen. The siblings, aged 14 and 15, had shared a dormitory bunk just meters from where Khadijat hid.
“I’m worried and sick about their whereabouts,” Altine confessed, his eyes red from sleepless nights. The family has since mobilized community networks, including local imams and vigilantes, to gather intelligence on possible bandit hideouts. No ransom demands have been made public as of Tuesday evening, but sources close to the family say informal negotiations through intermediaries are underway—a common but perilous tactic in these cases.
The emotional toll extends beyond the Lawals. Over 50 parents gathered at the school gates 24 hours after the attack, their chants of “Bring back our girls” echoing a painful echo of the 2014 Chibok abduction in Borno State. Photos circulating on social media show women clutching prayer mats and photographs of their daughters, while men pace in clusters, phones pressed to ears for any scrap of news.
Official Response: Clarifying the Chaos and Mounting Criticism
Kebbi State officials moved swiftly to address conflicting reports on the scale of the abduction. Initially, media outlets cited 25 missing students, but Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Halimatu Muhammad Bande, clarified during a press briefing in Birnin Kebbi on Monday that the true number is 26. “We are working with security agencies to verify every detail and ensure no child is left behind,” Bande stated, emphasizing that headcounts were complicated by the early hour and panic.
Governor Nasir Idris has condemned the attack as “barbaric” and ordered an immediate security audit of all schools in the state. Federal support has been pledged, with President Bola Tinubu’s administration dispatching reinforcements from the Nigerian Army’s 8th Division. However, critics argue the response is reactive. Human Rights Watch, in a statement released Tuesday, urged the government to address root causes like underfunded security and porous borders, noting that Kebbi’s proximity to Niger Republic facilitates bandit cross-border operations.
On the international front, former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad took to social media to correct misinformation from a U.S. congressman who claimed the abducted girls were from a Christian community. “This is a Muslim-majority school in a predominantly Muslim area—let’s get the facts right to avoid stoking divisions,” Ahmad posted on X, garnering over 5,000 likes within hours.
- Key Facts on the Abduction:
- Date and Time: November 17, 2025, approximately 2 a.m.
- Location: Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Maga, Danga Wasagu LGA, Kebbi State.
- Victims: 26 female students (aged 12–18); one vice principal killed.
- Survivors: At least 10 students, including Khadijat Lawal, who hid in a toilet.
- Security Presence: Delayed arrival; ongoing joint patrols by army and police.
- Ransom Status: No official demands; families report backchannel talks.
- Broader Context Updates:
- Kebbi has seen 12 major bandit attacks since January 2025, per local NGO reports.
- National school safety fund, announced in 2024, has disbursed only 30% of allocated N10 billion ($6 million).
- Rescue operations in similar cases (e.g., Kaduna 2024) succeeded in 40% of instances with military intervention.
Community Mobilization and the Human Cost
In Maga, a tight-knit farming community of about 5,000 residents, the abduction has fractured daily life. Schools across Kebbi shut down temporarily on Tuesday, with attendance plummeting 70% due to parental fears. Local markets, usually bustling at dawn, stood eerily quiet as vendors joined vigils instead of tending stalls.
Women’s groups have taken a lead role, organizing blood drives and psychological support sessions for affected families. Aisha Mohammed, a teacher at a neighboring school, told reporters, “These girls dream of becoming doctors and engineers, not bargaining chips for criminals. We can’t let fear win.” Community leaders are also pushing for drone surveillance along bandit trails, a technology piloted successfully in Zamfara State last year.
Economically, the ripple effects are stark. Kebbi’s agrarian economy relies on seasonal labor, and with parents sidelined by worry, harvest preparations for the upcoming yam season are at risk. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that such disruptions could exacerbate malnutrition rates, already hovering at 28% in the state according to 2024 surveys.
Echoes of Chibok: Lessons Unlearned?
This latest outrage draws inevitable parallels to the 2014 kidnapping of 276 girls by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno State—an event that galvanized global activism under #BringBackOurGirls. While the groups differ—bandits here are often motivated by profit rather than ideology—the tactics are hauntingly similar: nighttime raids on undersecured schools, selective abductions of females, and prolonged hostage ordeals.
Experts like Kabiru Adamu, a security analyst at Beacon Security, point to systemic failures. “Insufficient intelligence sharing between states and a lack of rural policing create these vulnerabilities,” Adamu said in an interview with Al Jazeera. Since 2014, over 3,500 children have been abducted in Nigeria, with rescue rates below 50%, per Save the Children data. Calls for a dedicated anti-kidnapping task force grow louder, but bureaucratic hurdles persist.
In Kebbi, faith plays a pivotal role in resilience. Mosques overflow with special prayers, and imams broadcast appeals for divine intervention. One father, whose daughter remains missing, shared: “We trust in Allah, but we also demand action from those in power.”
The Kebbi school abduction serves as a stark reminder of Nigeria’s unfinished battle against banditry, where a single night’s terror can shatter dozens of families. Khadijat Lawal’s narrow escape offers a glimmer of hope, but as search operations intensify, the nation holds its breath for the safe return of the 26 girls. With mounting pressure on authorities, this could catalyze long-overdue reforms—or deepen the cycle of despair. Only time, and accountability, will tell.