According to a report by Punch, the hostel matron on duty at Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, on Monday night when armed bandits attacked the school, has relived the horrifying event.
During the attack, the gunmen killed the Vice Principal, Hassan Makuku, and abducted 25 schoolgirls, leaving the community in grief and confusion.
The hostel matron, who narrowly escaped, narrated her experience in an interview with Punch.
She disclosed that the terror began shortly after 3 a.m. when she heard a student crying. She looked out the window and immediately realized the school was surrounded by armed men.
Within seconds, one of the attackers began banging on her door, calling her by the name the students usually used for her. She refused to open, buying herself time by pretending she was looking for the key.
She said:
“He was shouting, ‘Mama, mama, I beg you in the name of God, open the door.’ I refused. When I saw their number, I pretended to go and bring the key, but instead locked myself inside my room.”
She said the assailants attempted repeatedly to break down her door with a machete. When they failed, they turned their attention to the girls’ hostel, where several students were taken away at gunpoint.
Other survivors have shared equally distressing accounts. Some girls hid in corners, under beds, or inside storerooms as the gunmen moved from room to room. One survivor said she remained frozen in silence while three of her companions who hid with her were captured.
Parents who arrived at dawn found shattered doors, scattered belongings, and traumatized children. Many remain on the school grounds, waiting anxiously for updates.
Meanwhile, the military has launched an intensive search-and-rescue operation across forests bordering Zamfara State. The Chief of Army Staff has insisted that recovering the abducted students is a mission that must not fail. Read Original