A heavily armed gang riding dozens of motorcycles assaulted a secondary school in Nigeria’s north-central Kogi State on Wednesday morning.
The sudden raid targeted the Government Secondary School in Iluke Bunu during a suspected attempt to execute a mass abduction.
At least three innocent people perished, including a respected school vice principal and a vulnerable six-year-old child, according to local authorities.
A fierce gun battle erupted when a combined force of security operatives arrived to confront the invaders at the scene.
Outgunned by the joint security team, the heavily armed attackers ultimately fled into the dense brush surrounding the academic grounds.
Officials identified the deceased victims as vice principal Ganiyu Anifowose, seventy-year-old Sunday Alhassan, and young six-year-old Sunday Ayele.
Security forces successfully repelled the invaders, and preliminary assessments indicate that no students were successfully carried off during the chaos.
This violent incursion underscores a terrifying and escalating pattern of coordinated assaults targeting educational institutions throughout the West African nation.
Just last month, dozens of students and teachers were seized during brazen, multi-school raids across southwestern Oyo State by local bandits.
Similarly, terrorists operating near the notorious Sambisa Forest stronghold abducted forty-two young primary school pupils in northeastern Borno State recently.
The threat of mass kidnapping has plagued Nigerian schools since the infamous Chibok schoolgirl abductions over a decade ago.
Armed criminal networks consistently weaponize these educational raids, exploiting the safety of children to extort massive ransom payouts from communities.