Armed attackers stormed Government Secondary School in Odo-Ekina, in the Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, on Tuesday evening, making off with the school’s principal, four students, and a staff member overseeing the National Examinations Council (NECO) exam.
Police say the raid happened around 5:25 p.m., just as candidates were mid-exam. Kogi Police Command spokesperson ASP Salisu Oyiza confirmed the attack in a statement released Wednesday, saying a joint team of police and other security forces moved quickly to launch a search-and-rescue operation and are actively tracking the attackers.
One of the four abducted students has already been freed, according to police, who say the operation continues to secure the release of the remaining captives and to catch those responsible.
Kogi’s police commissioner, Naziru Kankarofi, along with a military brigade commander and the state governor’s security adviser, headed to the scene to assess the situation on the ground.
The attack is the latest in a run of security incidents in the state. Just days earlier, on July 9, suspected kidnappers hit a funeral convoy in the Ofu council area, abducting nine mourners — including two Federal Road Safety Corps officials — and later demanding a ₦450 million ransom. Kogi authorities subsequently announced that security forces had killed the man they identified as the mastermind of that attack.
The state has rolled out a series of countermeasures in recent weeks — motorcycle restrictions in parts of Kabba/Bunu, a nighttime travel ban on some roads, and stepped-up military patrols — but attacks, particularly along highways and in rural areas, have persisted.
