Commander of the 21 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Godiya Solomon Monde, has said troops have blocked suspected exit points and working to rescue the victims abducted from a secondary school in Kogi State.

The Peoples Gazette earlier reported that gunmen invaded Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in the Dekina Local Government Area of the state and abducted the principal, a National Examinations Council (NECO) official and students sitting the ongoing examination on Tuesday.

Speaking in a video interview by News Central TV, Mr Monde said troops responded immediately after receiving a distress call about the attack at 3:00 p.m.

He said, “We have blocked all the suspected crossing points where we expect them to move with those children to. Two students were kidnapped, including the principal and the supervisor that came for the NECO exam.”

Mr Monde said four people were being held by the gunmen, adding that security operatives were tracking the gunmen.

“They’ve made some calls so far. We are tracking them to see where they are. I’m assuring you, we’re going to rescue the victims,” he said.

The development comes after the Kogi State Government said that it had mobilised a massive security operation to secure the release of the school principal, NECO official and the students abducted during an attack in the Dekina Local Government Area of the state.