Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has decried the attack on the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, where 25 schoolgirls were abducted in the early hours of Monday.

Mr Abubakar, in a statement on Monday, said he was “devastated by the news of the tragic attack on Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, which claimed the life of the vice-principal and led to the abduction of innocent students.”

The former vice president said the abduction “is yet another reminder of the worsening insecurity in our nation,” adding, “the federal government should urgently review and strengthen its security architecture, deploy adequate personnel across vulnerable communities, and intensify intelligence-led operations. Our citizens deserve protection, dignity, and peace, nothing less.”

While condemning the killing of an APC chieftain, Umar Moriki, and the mass abductions in Tsafe LGA of Zamfara, where entire families, including women and children, were taken by bandits, Mr Abubakar said, “Nigeria cannot continue on this path.”

Kebbi police authorities said the attack on the school took place around 4:00 a.m. on Monday.

“A gang of armed bandits with sophisticated weapons, shooting sporadically, stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Danko district, Danko/Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State,” a statement by the state police spokesperson, CSP Nafi’u Abubakar, said.

The police spokesperson said tactical units deployed in the school engaged the attackers in a gun duel.

“Unfortunately, the bandits had already scaled the school fence and abducted 25 students from their hostel to an unknown destination.

“Similarly, one Hassan Makuku was shot dead, while one Ali Shehu sustained an injury on his right hand,” he said.

Kebbi schoolgirls kidnapping comes over a decade after over 270 girls were kidnapped from their school dormitory in Chibok, Borno State, in 2014.