Dahiru, a 13-year-old student of Government Day Secondary School, Kaya, Maradun Local Govermnrment Area of Zamfara State, has narrated how he escaped from bandits during the abduction of 73 students at the school.

Following his discharge from the hospital on Saturday, Dahiru told TheCable that a fellow student carried him on his shoulder into a nearby bush after a bullet hit him in the thigh.

“I was in class when we saw them coming. They got into the school and took a number of us using their motorcycles. They took both girls and boys into the bush. Some of them were made to trek,” he said.

“I ran away and they chased me. I was calling Mallam Kabir, my teacher, when they made an attempt to shoot him but, suddenly, they shot me.

“One of the students in my class carried me on his shoulder after I was shot and ran into the bush with me. When the place became peaceful, he took me home.”

Aliyu Abubakar, a teacher in the school, said he was on his way to the staff room when he saw bandits approaching on motorcycles.

“We had started the terminal examination and we gave students a timetable for mock and JSCE. I had just got out of SS2 class on my way to the staff room when I saw them coming on motorcycles,” Abubakar said.

“We had been living in fear before this incident happened. Have you seen any security in this town? That is the way we are. There are no security agents in this town.”

The teacher said the entire people of Kaya community had pleaded with the state government to provide security.

On Wednesday, Mohammed Shehu, Zamfara Police Command’s spokesman, confirmed the abduction of 73 students of Government Day Secondary School. He revealed that “the abduction followed the invasion of the school by a large number of armed bandits”.

Following the incident, Bello Matawalle, the state governor, ordered that all primary and secondary schools in the state be closed until further notice.