₦airaland Forum

***One student rescued— Police

***Gov Ododo mobilises security agents to rescue abductees

***It’s time to make Safe Schools Initiative work — NAPTAN

LOKOJA— Gunmen on Tuesday attacked Government Secondary School, Olowa, in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, abducting four students, the principal and a National Examinations Council, NECO, ad-hoc staff.

The attack, which occurred at about 5:25 pm while the students were writing their NECO examination, came as three newly passed-out soldiers on their way from Zaria to Zamfara State, were also abducted by terrorists who demanded N50 million.

However, both the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, and Defence Headquarters said they were not aware of the development.

On the Kogi attack, residents said the heavily armed assailants stormed the community, firing sporadically to scare people before invading the school.

A community leader, Sunday Alkali, said residents were relaxing under trees when the gunmen suddenly appeared.

“The gunmen seemed surprised to see many people outside at that time of the day and initially retreated. They later returned, shooting indiscriminately, forcing everyone to flee for safety,” he said.

According to residents, it was only after the gunfire subsided that they discovered the school had been attacked.

“We initially did not know what the gunmen were after. After the shooting stopped, some of us went to the school and found examination papers scattered across classrooms and the school premises. There were no students or school officials in sight,” another resident said.

The victims were later identified as the school principal, Mr. Nyada Daniel; the NECO exams supervisor, Mr. Solomon Audu; and four students.

Residents noted that the number of abducted students could have been higher but for the fact that only a limited number of candidates were writing Literature in English at the time, unlike core subjects such as English Language and Mathematics, which attract larger attendance.

The kidnappers were also said to have contacted some relatives of the victims on Tuesday evening, demanding ransom for their release.

“At least four families have received calls from the abductors demanding huge sums of money for the victims’ freedom,” Alkali alleged.

Following the incident, soldiers, police officers, local vigilantes and hunters were said to have been mobilised to the area to track the abductors and rescue the victims.

“Soldiers, policemen, vigilantes and hunters are combing the surrounding forests in search of the kidnappers,” a resident, who requested anonymity, said.

Army, Lokoja; 21 Battalion, Nigerian Army, Anyigba; the Nigeria Police Force; the Department of State Services, DSS; the Kogi State Vigilante Service; local hunters; and other security outfits had been deployed to the area. Advanced technology is also being deployed to support the rescue operation,’’ the government stated.

It further disclosed that preliminary findings indicated that the examination centre, located in a remote area, was allegedly being used as a “miracle centre” for external candidates

According to the statement, the two female candidates involved were not regular students of Government Secondary School, Olowa, while the examination arrangements did not conform with the security framework put in place by the state government for candidates participating in the ongoing NECO examinations.

The government, however, maintained that the circumstances surrounding the examination centre would not affect its responsibility to ensure the safety of all residents and visitors in the state.

It assured that every effort was being made to rescue the victims and apprehend those behind the abduction.

The government appealed to residents of Olowa and neighbouring communities to cooperate with security agencies by providing credible information that could aid the rescue efforts.

It reaffirmed its commitment to protecting lives and property, expressing confidence that the victims would be safely reunited with their families.

However, school abductions have not ended; they have intensified and spread from the North-East to the North-West and now to the South-West, President Bola Tinubu’s own geopolitical zone.

Insecurity around schools has become normalised, with children, teachers and parents living under constant fear. The recent foiling of a planned school abduction in Edo State by the DSS, working with vigilant citizens, shows that the threat is nationwide and that official protection remains inadequate.

Meanwhile, seven months after the Senate decided to probe how far the initiative has achieved the expected results, not much had been done.

The Senate Ad-hoc Committee, chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, summoned key government officials, including the then Finance Minister, Wale Edun and Defence Minister Gen. Christopher Musa, after it was revealed that nearly N6. 2 billion of the 2023 budget was allocated solely to the Nigeria Police Force, while a large portion of previous funds was consumed by consultancy and other sundry issues.

Exam halls should be sanctuaries not crime scenes, Atiku

Reacting to the development, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, declared that an examination hall should be a sanctuary of hope, not a crime scene, condemning the abduction of the victims.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress, ADC, described the incident as further proof that the Nigerian state has abdicated its most fundamental responsibility, which is the protection of life, learning and the future of its children.

He said; “An examination hall should be a sanctuary of hope, not a crime scene. A school principal should be preparing students for the future, not negotiating with kidnappers.

‘’A NECO official should be supervising examinations, not struggling for survival in the hands of bandits. Yet this has become the grim reality under a government that has normalised insecurity.”

Atiku said the latest attack was not an isolated tragedy but part of a dangerous national pattern in which educational institutions had become preferred targets because criminals no longer feared the Nigerian state.

“It is impossible to separate this attack from the attitude this administration has displayed towards education.

‘’A government that has repeatedly made education more expensive through unprecedented increases in WAEC and NECO examination fees, neglected public schools, failed to secure learning environments and reduced education to empty campaign slogans should not be surprised that criminals now see schools as abandoned territories,” he said.

He said government policies had sent one unmistakable message, that education is no longer a national priority.

“First, they priced poor children out of classrooms. Then they fail to protect those who remain in school. This is a double assault on the future of Nigeria. One is economic exclusion; the other is violent intimidation.

‘’Together, they amount to a systematic destruction of the dreams of an entire generation,” he said.

Atiku linked the security failure to what he described as reckless federal budgeting, saying the repeated incompetence Nigerians continued to witness under the Tinubu administration was the inevitable consequence of a government that has abandoned probity, discipline and accountability in public finance.

He noted that every successful attack on a school emboldened other criminal groups, making educational institutions increasingly attractive targets because the consequences had been minimal and the response largely reactive.

“The collapse of school security is not merely a security failure; it is a collapse of governance itself. A country where children cannot safely write examinations is a country steadily surrendering its future to fear,” he said.

Atiku called for the immediate and unconditional rescue of every abducted victim and demanded a comprehensive review of security arrangements for all schools and examination centres across the federation.

Terrorists abduct 3 newly passed-out soldiers in Zamfara

Meanwhile, three newly passed-out soldiers have been ambushed and abducted by terrorists while travelling through Anka axis of Zamfara State.

The new Army personnel were said to have been abducted in Zamfara on July 2, 2026, after they were allegedly abandoned by military authorities while travelling to their destination in Kebbi State, shortly after completing their passing-out exercise at the 26 Nigerian Army (26 NA) formation in Kaduna State.

Initially, the kidnappers reportedly demanded N50 million ransom before later reducing the ransom to N5 million for each captive.

Families of the abducted soldiers stated that despite notifying military authorities about the incident, no rescue operation or official response had been communicated to them more than 13 days after the abduction.

Similarly, the Director of of Media Operations, Defence Headquarters, Major General Michael Onoja, also said the DHQ was not aware of the abduction.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/07/gunmen-raid-kogi-school-abduct-principal-neco-official-students/amp/

Everyday kidnappers and abductors news na the one wey go viral they take serious. Nigeria is now a shadow of itself

Tinubu should resign. He has failed to secure the life of it's citizens

Very typical operation...

A.nother

P.rincipal

C.aptured

If I talk wetin dey my mind about this clueless failure in Abuja. DSS go pick me up immediately. But unfortunately he is still the best to some of his followers. May the soul of that country rest in peace 🕊️

Between kwara state governor and kogi state governor, I don't know which one is more useless.

Kogi's own is generational though, they've never been fortunate to have a functional Governor.

Indeed, there was a country. Nigeria is finished. All they care about is election.

Stupid kogi state government said they were writing in a miracle centre, forgetting that people resit for exams

If the first set had been treated in the Israeli language which they always clearly understand, these ones wouldn’t have been encouraged to take that same route. But because the last set made profit handsomely, these ones have now gone for their own share. Despicable

I heard police said it is a miracle center. Who is kidnapping our students.

This country na cruise aswear

These has become a normal thing honestly,these government is worst ever,very incompetent. And the most shamefull thing abt all these is a full time fairlure campaigning to return back to sit when he shld hv resigned.

Make una pay the Ransom and start gallivanting again that tinubu have rescued people

Localman have loses count of the numbers of Nawaao he have shouted and heard in this 2025 alone menhm...

Meteng:
If the first set had been treated in the Israeli language which they always clearly understand, these ones wouldn’t have been encouraged to take that same route. But because the last set made profit handsomely, these ones have now gone for their own share. Despicable

Dominique, FreestuffsNG, AngelFrost, God1000 and co will not agree with you on this.

If these things happened under Obi, the FP would be on fire.

EmperorGodswill:
These has become a normal thing honestly,these government is worst ever,very incompetent. And the most shamefull thing abt all these is a full time fairlure campaigning to return back to sit when he shld hv resigned.

Yarimo and helinus will disagree ooo. They'll say kidnapping happens everywhere in the world.

Evil people.

erad:
Between kwara state governor and kogi state governor, I don't know which one is more useless.

Kogi's own is generational though, they've never been fortunate to have a functional Governor.

Kogi is more useless o. Though Kwara state APC controlled governor/government is also useless. But on a scale of who is more useless, Kogi takes the cake.

pafestula:
If I talk wetin dey my mind about this clueless failure in Abuja. DSS go pick me up immediately. But unfortunately he is still the best to some of his followers. May the soul of that country rest in peace 🕊️

@ bolded, this is the factor bedeviling Nigerian people (fear) ,you can't even exercise your right because of DSS.


Reasons politician are sitting on your head tightly

Abduction and kidnapping are now the other of the day in Nigeria. Even here on nairaland, no one is safe.

dannyspeejay:
Localman have loses count of the numbers of Nawaao he have shouted and heard in this 2025 alone menhm...

Hahahaha, very funny. Na waooo

miracle002:
Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/07/gunmen-raid-kogi-school-abduct-principal-neco-official-students/amp/

State Police has been approved

The state governor should rescue his people

We don't want to hear anything FG.

The army should use the same template they used at Oriire recently.

Encycle the first before they move farther.

Not yet approved.

It hasn't even gone to the state assemblies.

Hussein035:
State Police has been approved

The state governor should rescue his people

We don't want to hear anything FG.

Everything is getting too much negativity

Kalulu44:
Hahahaha, very funny. Na waooo

erad:
Between kwara state governor and kogi state governor, I don't know which one is more useless.

Kogi's own is generational though, they've never been fortunate to have a functional Governor.

Ododo dey actually deal with Bandit, the terrorists won't stop, just to prove a point.

There new lucrative business

Gunmen? No longer Fulani terrorists?

I don talk am before, that the increment of waec/neco fee maybe because of reason like this unfortunate incident.

miracle002:
Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/07/gunmen-raid-kogi-school-abduct-principal-neco-official-students/amp/

When will this kidnapping stop? Do we still have a government in this country?

This administration is treating this insecurity with kids glove, perhaps they're benefiting from it.

What is all this about now? Nigeria problem is too complex oo