Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has claimed that informants alerted the bandits who invaded the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, in Igabi Local Government Area of the state, to kidnap some students on Thursday night.
The state government later disclosed that about 16 male students and 23 females were abducted from the school.
El-Rufai said the government got intelligence that bandits were planning to attack a secondary school close to the forestry college, but security operatives were alerted immediately and they moved to the school.
According to him, some informants must have alerted the bandits that the secondary school was protected by the military, which could have informed their decision to target the college.
The armed men had broken a portion of the school fence from where they gained access into the premises.
The Nigerian Army had corroborated El-Rufai’s claim on the attempt to attack a secondary school.
In a statement, Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima, said while troops were protecting the secondary school, bandits headed to the forestry college.
“Acting on a tip-off on the impending abduction of the school children, troops quickly mobilized to protect the school from the bandits.
“However, while the troops were securing the secondary school, another distress call came that bandits had stormed the Federal School of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Igabi Local Government Area of the state with aim of kidnapping the staff and students. The troops swiftly moved to Afaka and decisively engaged the armed bandits.
“The bandits were said to have broken into the institution by breaching the perimeter fence of the school. The rescued students have been evacuated to a safe place while the injured are presently receiving medical attention at a military facility,” he said.