Amina Hassan, the distraught wife of the vice principal of Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School Gada in Kebbi State, has recounted how the bandits killed her husband during the kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls from a nearby school.
It was earlier reported that the Kebbi State Police Command confirmed that no fewer than 25 students were abducted from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area, early Monday morning.
The attack, carried out by heavily armed bandits, left one staff member dead and another injured, according to a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Nafi’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi.
The incident reportedly occurred around 4am when the assailants stormed the school and engaged police officers on duty in a fierce gun battle.
The attackers reportedly scaled the school fence, forced their way into the hostel, killed a staff member, and injured another.
Amina in an inteview with DW said her husband was killed while the family was asleep.
She introduced herself, saying she was the wife of the slain vice principal, and described the attackers.
She explained that she initially thought the noise was from cows entering their farm. She said they were sleeping around 3:30 am when she heard footsteps near the house and school hostel, and woke her husband to alert him about the cows.
In the process, she noticed the door opening and saw armed men in army camouflage uniforms.
“My name is Amina Hassan, wife of vice principal of Government girls comprehensive secondary school Gada, Kebbi State killed by armed bandits.”
“We were sleeping around 3:30 am when I heard the footsteps of the armed men around the house and school hostel and I wake my husband that cows are invading our farms, in the process of waking him up from sleep I heard our door open, I notice it was human being with guns and on Army camouflage uniform.”
The bandits threatened her husband before shooting him.
Hassan said her husband pleaded to be allowed to pray before they executed him, and they permitted him to do so.
“They threatened to kill my husband if he did anything strange. My husband pleaded that they should allow him to pray before they executed him, they allowed him and he was shot after saying his last prayer. When I try to go close to his coups they threatened to kill me too if I dared to go near my husband.”
“Then they asked me to follow them and I refused, I told them after killing my husband they wanted to take me away. I will not follow them, they asked the kids to go inside and lay down. After the whole thing when they left the scene I and I attempted to leave the house with the kids. I noticed they were all around the house and the school hostels. They sounded the whole place.”
He was shot after saying his final prayer. When she attempted to approach him, the attackers threatened to kill her.
She added that the bandits tried to take her away, but she refused. She told them she would not follow them after they had killed her husband. The attackers instructed the children to go inside and lay down.
After they left, Hassan and the children tried to leave the house, noticing that the bandits had surrounded the residence and school hostels.
Amina identified the attackers as young men in army camouflage uniforms. Three were inside the hostel while the rest remained outside, and she noted that their voices indicated they could be Fulani.
“They were wearing army camouflage uniforms and they were all young men. Three of them intern at the hostel while the rest were outside the building. And from their voices when I heard them speaking one could indicate they are Fulanis.”
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