Many students have been abducted from Bethel Secondary School, Maramara Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The students were abducted at about 2am this morning, July 5, by armed men who stormed the school, shooting sporadically.
The Kaduna State Police Command confirmed the incident, saying 17 students have been rescued.
At the moment, there is no information on how many students are still in the custody of the bandits.
Joseph Hayab, Kaduna state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), told TheCable that his son, who is also a student in the school, was among those who narrowly escaped being abducted.
He said many of the students are missing, explaining that it is not possible to determine the number of those abducted until those who ran into hiding are back.
He, however, said many of the students are believed to have been abducted.
“We cannot give the exact figure of those abducted for now, until those who ran to hide for safety are back and a census of the students is taken, but we know they took a lot of students,” Hayab said.
He added: “I am just speechless, I don’t know what to say. My son was among the students who narrowly escaped.
“I am part of this unfortunate incident because it is my church. This is a very, very sad situation for us.
“I was informed that bandits invaded the school around 2am.
“They have just started the NECO exam and see what we are going through.”
This is the second abduction in the state within the last 24 hours.
Early on Sunday morning, July 4, bandits invaded the National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy in Zaria, Kaduna, and abducted babies and staff members (read here).