One of the persons who witnessed the abduction at Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State, has narrated what happened before the victims were whisked into the forest.
In the wee hours of Friday, gunmen broke into the school and abducted over 300 students.
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Speaking to BBC Hausa of Friday, a witness who didn’t want his name mentioned, said the armed men were more than 100.
He said some of the parents who visited the school after the incident slumped when they learnt that their daughters were among those abducted.
According to him, “The gunmen, numbering more than 100 stormed the school around 1:40am on Friday and abducted 373 students.
“They were shooting sporadically, asked the schoolgirls to wake up and pray, while the girls were all crying before they took them into forest.
“They spent like 1:30 minutes after abducting the girls before leaving the school shooting sporadically. There was no any security operative around the area then.
“The whole community is now in confusion, there are over 700 students in this school who came from different states.”
The witness said some angry residents blocked government officials from the area over what they described as their negligence to protect lives and properties.
The United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern over the abduction.
In a statement on Friday, the organisation described the attack as a threat to the children’s right to education.
It called on authorities to ensure quick release of the schoolgirls and prevent further occurrence.
