News

Police Confirm Abduction of Secondary School Girls in Kebbi

Published

6 months ago

November 17, 2025

Eric

Tension has engulfed the Maga community in Kebbi State after terrorists launched a deadly pre-dawn attack on the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area, reportedly abducting 25 students and killing a staff member.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Nafiu Abubakar Kotarkoshi, the armed attackers, wielding sophisticated weapons, invaded the school at about 4:00 am and opened fire as they forced their way in.

“The police tactical units deployed in the school engaged them in a gun duel,” the PPRO said. “Unfortunately, the suspected bandits had already scaled through the fence of the school and abducted twenty-five students from their hostel to an unknown destination.”

He confirmed that one staff member, Hassan Makuku, was shot dead, while another, Ali Shehu, sustained a gunshot injury to his hand.

Following the attack, Abubakar said the command swiftly deployed additional police tactical squads alongside military personnel and local vigilantes to track the movement of the terrorists and rescue the abducted girls.

“They are currently combing the bandits’ routes and nearby forests with a view to rescuing the abducted students and possibly arresting the perpetrators of the dastardly act,” he said.

He added that the Commissioner of Police, CP Bello M. Sani, had reaffirmed the command’s commitment to protecting lives and property across the state.

“The Commissioner reiterates the Command’s unwavering determination to safeguard the people of Kebbi State,” Abubakar stated. “He appeals to the public to remain calm, vigilant, and continue supporting police operations to maintain peace and stability.

Also confirming the incident, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ahmed Idris, said the state government was closely monitoring developments.

“The exact number of abducted students is still being verified,” Idris told our correspondent.

“The deputy governor, Senator Umar Tafida, has been dispatched to the school to assess the situation on behalf of Governor Nasir Idris, who is currently out of the state.”

He assured residents that the government was working hand-in-hand with security agencies to secure the safe return of the students and restore normalcy to the community.

Parents and residents of Maga remain in anguish as they await further updates on the fate of the abducted girls.

In June 2021, bandits abducted some students of Federal Government Girls College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State.

The Punch

News

El-Rufai’s Son, Bello, Dumps APC, Joins ADC

Published

14 minutes ago

May 7, 2026

Eric

Bello El-Rufai, the son of former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The speaker said Bello El-Rufai joined the ADC alongside two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Kaduna State — Reps Umar Ajilo and Suleiman Yahaya Richifa.

He also announced the defection of Kamilu Ado, a lawmaker from Kano State, from the ADC to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

The Speaker also announced the resignation of Rep. Joshua Obika, representing the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency of the Federal Capital Territory, from the APC to the NDC.

The defected members, however, cited internal crises and uncertainty within their former parties as reasons for their defections.

News

Gunmen Kill Driver, Abduct Passengers on Benin-Ore Expressway

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2026

Eric

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have attacked a commercial bus operated by GUO Transport along the Benn-Ore expressway, killing the driver and abducting several passengers in what underscores Nigeria’s deepening insecurity on major highways.

Reports indicate that the assailants ambushed the South East-bound vehicle, opened fire on the driver, who died at the scene, and subsequently whisked away passengers to an unknown destination.

The incident is believed to have occurred along a notorious stretch of the highway linking the South-West to the South-South, long plagued by banditry and abductions.

While official confirmation from security agencies is expected, local sources and a circulating video showed that passengers might have forcefully been taken into nearby forests, a tactic commonly employed by kidnapping syndicates operating along the corridor. Similar attacks in the past have involved mass abductions, with victims later released after ransom payments.

News

Police Retirees Block Aso Rock Gate, Demand Action on Pension Scheme

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2026

Eric

Some retirees of the Nigeria Police Force under the aegis of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria (PROF) have staged a protest at the Presidential Villa in Abuja demanding President Bola Tinubu sign the Police Exit Bill passed by the National Assembly in December 2025.

The bill seeks to withdraw the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The protesters, under the scorching sun, walked from the Three Arms Zone in Abuja through the street in front of the Police Headquarters.

They carried placards with various inscriptions, in addition to the Nigerian flag and the flag of the Nigeria Police Force.

Led by its National Coordinator, CSP Raphael Irowainu, the protesters described the retention of the NPF in the Contributory Pension Scheme as fraudulent and illegal.

They also said the CPS is inhumane and obnoxious.

According to them, the protest seeks to prevail on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to give assent to the Police Exit Bill passed by the National Assembly on 4th December 2025 and transmitted to the President on 16th March 2026.

They said that when signed into law, the Act will totally exempt the police from what they called a “slavery and untimely death-inducing pension scheme.”

The protesters, accompanied by some of their spouses and children, also blocked Gate 8 leading into the Presidential Villa, causing obstruction to vehicular movement.

Efforts by Villa security personnel to dissuade them from the protest proved abortive as they insisted on seeing the President.

They laid their mats in front of the gate, singing songs of solidarity, while some of them lay on the floor.

As of the time of filing this report, no one from the Villa had addressed the protesters.

CSP Irowainu said that their main purpose is to prevail on President Tinubu to sign the bill exiting the Nigeria Police Force from the CPS, which he said has been passed and transmitted to him by the National Assembly.

He lamented that while other security agencies in the country such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, SSS and others have all been exited from the scheme, the police remain trapped in it.

“Our major aim here is to prevail on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign our bill—the bill exiting the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme—passed by the National Assembly on 4th December 2025 and transmitted to him on 16th March, 2026, into law, nothing more than that.

“The soldiers have been exited, the SSS has been exited, the Air Force has been exited, the Navy has been exited, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has been exited. The police, who are the father of them all, are trapped in this obnoxious Contributory Pension Scheme,” CSP Irowainu said.

It is not the first time retired officers are staging a protest over the CPS. In July last year, they demonstrated at the National Assembly to demand their removal from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The demonstrators, mostly elderly, stood in the rain holding placards and chanting anti-government songs.

Some of the retired police officers also besieged the Force Headquarters in Abuja to protest against the CPS.

Addressing the protesters at the time, the then Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, said the welfare of retired police officers was being addressed, but that the exit of the Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme was not something that could be implemented immediately.

He, however, advised the leaders of the protest to refrain from spreading misinformation, stressing that the Force could not abandon its own.