Twenty-five girls were abducted from a boarding school in Nigeria’s Kebbi State by armed assailants, who also killed at least one staff member, according to authorities on Monday.

The abduction of the schoolgirls occurred around 4 a.m., with no immediate claim of responsibility from any group.

According to Police spokesperson Nafi’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi, the gunmen, equipped with “sophisticated weapons,” exchanged fire with guards prior to abducting the girls.

He further indicated that “A combined team is currently combing suspected escape routes and surrounding forests in a coordinated search and rescue operation aimed at recovering the abducted students and arresting the perpetrators,” also noting that one person was killed and another injured.

Abdulkarim Abdullahi Maga, a local resident whose daughter and granddaughter were reportedly taken in the raid, informed the AP that the assailants arrived at the school on motorcycles.

Maga recounted, “They initially proceeded directly to the teacher’s house and killed him, subsequently killing the guard.”

These recent abductions are occurring amidst a series of mass kidnappings that have taken place in in recent years.

During 2024, from a school in Kaduna State were abducted, while at least 200 other individuals, primarily internally displaced women and children, were seized in Borno State, reportedly as they searched for firewood, information provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk indicates.

In 2014, over 200 schoolgirls were abducted from a by Boko Haram militants, an event that ignited international indignation and prompted a #BringBackOurGirls campaign.