Bandits have abducted 15 Tsangaya schoolchildren and one woman at Gidan Bukaso, Gada Local Government Area (LGA) of Sokoto State.
Police authorities in the state confirmed the incident which happened around 10:00 am when the bandits invaded the community.
As they made their way out of the town, they sighted the students rushing into their rooms and abducted some of them.
According to the spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command Ahmed Rufai, the Sangaya Islamic School belongs to one Malam Liman Abubakar. He explained that the abducted woman was also taken from the school.
While no life was lost in the attack, police authorities have mobilized to the village for a rescue operation to ensure the children are back unhurt.
The attack came hours before the Sokoto State Government held a ceremony for the passing out of its Community Guards Corps, a security outfit aimed at tackling banditry and other crimes in the North-West State.
Saturday’s abduction is the latest in the renewed kidnapping of students in Nigeria. Earlier in the week, bandits took away close to 200 students in Kaduna State.
That incident has drawn condemnation from wide and near including UNICEF, Amnesty International, and a host of other agencies and personalities. President Bola Tinubu has also mandated the immediate rescue of the students.
The recent spate of kidnapping in the country led First Lady Remi Tinubu to call for the death penalty for abductors whom she described as “cowards”.