Six of the 24 students of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State kidnapped in the early hours of Friday have been rescued.
A top military source close to the Commander of 1 Brigade Nigerian Army, Gusau, confirmed this to Channels Television, following the bandits’ invasion of the Sabon-Gida community of Bungudu Local Government Area.
He said the Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Sani Ahmed is currently leading the operation with other security agencies in the forest along Tsafe Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
The source also confirmed that several bandits were neutralised during the ongoing operation with some weapons recovered.
Earlier, a student of the school, who asked to be anonymous for security reasons, told Channels Television that over 24 schoolmates, mostly ladies, were abducted during the attack.
A resident of Sabon-Gida identified as Nazeer Sabon-Gida also confirmed that the gunmen invaded the community around 3 a.m. and started shooting indiscriminately.
According to him, three students’ hostels were attacked and all the students in the hostels were taken away by the bandits.
In a related development, the Zamfara State Police Command confirmed the abduction of the students.
The spokesperson for the command, ASP Yazid Abubakar, in a telephone conversation on Friday said the command has yet to confirm the number of the students abducted.