Kebbi State was plunged into grief and anger on Monday after armed men stormed Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area, killing the vice principal and kidnapping dozens of students.
While 25 girls were initially taken, three later escaped.
Governor Mohammed Nasir Idris, who arrived at the scene around 6:45 p.m., did not mince words as he expressed outrage over what he described as a deliberate failure by some security operatives to act on clear intelligence.
“This is clear sabotage,” the governor said bluntly. “We got credible intelligence from the DSS that this school was likely to be attacked.
“DSS further advised that we convene an emergency Security Council meeting, which we did. And the decision was that we would provide round-the-clock protection for the students.”
According to the governor, the intelligence was explicit and timely. He said he treated it with utmost seriousness, recalling how a similar lapse in 2020 allowed armed groups to kidnap more than 300 boys in Kankara, Katsina State.
But despite the warning, the governor said the deployed personnel inexplicably abandoned their posts just before dawn—minutes before the gunmen invaded the school.
He said the security detail had spent Sunday night interacting with students, taking pictures, and rehearsing emergency procedures, yet still withdrew shortly before the attack.
A visibly troubled Idris announced the formation of a special investigation panel to uncover what went wrong and why the intelligence failed to prevent the raid. The governor said the committee—also tasked with coordinating efforts for the safe return of the abducted girls—would be chaired by the Director of the DSS in Kebbi State.
One teacher who narrowly escaped the attack confirmed the governor’s concerns.
“The heavily-armed security men spent the entire night guarding the school,” he said. “For reasons we still don’t understand, they left before daybreak. About 30 minutes after they withdrew, the kidnappers struck.”
He added that the DSS intelligence had been so precise that he wasn’t surprised the governor tapped the agency to lead the investigative panel.
Despite the trauma, the teacher offered a glimmer of hope:
“The good news is that the girls were taken away, not killed. With the efforts from both state and federal authorities, we are hopeful that they will all be rescued.”
The attack marks yet another painful reminder of the security challenges facing Nigeria’s northern communities, raising renewed questions about coordination among security agencies and the protection of vulnerable schools.
