About 200 students of an Islamiyya school located at Tegina in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have been abducted, The Punch reports.

One person was reportedly shot dead while another was critically injured after the gunmen carried out the kidnap operation about 4:30 pm on Sunday.

A resident of the area, Zayyad Mohammed, confirmed the incident to The Punch.

Secretary to the Niger State Government, Ahmed Matane, said the number of the abducted students is yet to be ascertained.

“Yes, there was an attack at the Islamiyya school, but we do not have the exact number of students that were abducted yet. We are in touch with parents in the area to know those whose children were abducted”, he disclosed to the newspaper.

It was further reported that the state government, while confirming the incident, said: “Conventional Islamiyyah students of Salihu Tanko Islamic School Tegina in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have been abducted.

“The number of abducted students of the Islamiyya is yet to be confirmed as the very little ones that can not go through the bush path are released.

“However, two people were shot in the cause of the attack with one person confirmed dead while the other person is critically injured.

“The State Government is still gathering detail security reports on the attack so as to take necessary measures to secure the release of those kidnapped”.

Also confirming the incident, the state police command through its PRO, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the bandits attack at Tegina, Rafi LGA.

He said, “On 30/05/2021 at about 1500hrs, armed bandits on board motorcycles in their numbers invaded Tegina town, Rafi LGA shooting indiscriminately and abducted a yet-to-be-ascertained number of children at Salihu Tanko Islamic school, Tegina. The bandits shot one person dead in the process.”