Claim: A Facebook user, Innocent Case, shared an image, claiming bandits abducted 40 students and killed the Vice Principal of a Government Girls Secondary School in Zamfara State.
Verdict: False! The claim that bandits abducted 40 students in Zamfara is false. The image used in the post was traced to a school abduction in Maga, Kebbi State, involving 25 students.
Full Text
A Facebook user, Innocent Case, claimed that bandits abducted 40 students and killed the vice principal of the Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, Zamfara State.
The caption of the post (archived here) reads, “Just in: bandits attacked and abducted 40 students and killed the vice principal in Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, Zamfara State. Students in Zamfara State aren’t safe again. It’s better to stop sending your children to school till after the 2027 election because of insecurity ooo.”
As of Oct. 26, 2026, the post had generated 10 likes and two comments. DUBAWA observed that the users in the comments believed the claim.
One Facebook user, Aisha Adumu, said, “If I’m a parent and I’m living in Zamfara, I’ll just stop my students from going to school oo.”
Another user, Mohammed Bechita, commented, “Abductions everywhere. Zamfara State government should do something about this sharp sharp o.”
Given the security concerns in Northwestern Nigeria and the claim’s potential to heighten tension among citizens, especially in Zamfara State, DUBAWA decided to verify it.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted keyword searches to verify the abduction of 40 students and the death of the vice principal in Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, Zamfara State. The search yielded no results of such an attack in the state.
The keyword searches led to a report published by Premium Times on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, where bandits abducted seven students of Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State.
In an interview with Daily Trust on June 3, 2026, the Chairman of Kaura Namoda Local Government Area, Mannir Kaura, confirmed the incident, stating that security agencies had launched operations to ensure the safe return of the abducted students.
DUBAWA investigated the location and found that Maga is a town in Danko/Wasagu Area of Kebbi State, not Zamfara State. This prompted DUBAWA to conduct further keyword searches using the school’s full name: The Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, Zamfara State. From the findings, we realised that the school is located in Kebbi State, not Zamfara as claimed. In light of this, DUBAWA ran a reverse image search on the photograph attached to the post. The results traced the image to news coverage of a bandit attack in Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, which occurred on Nov. 17, 2025.
On Nov. 17, 2025, Channels Television published a report stating that bandits abducted 25 students from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi. According to the report, the attackers killed the school’s Vice Principal, Hassan Makuku, before abducting 25 students.
The New York Times, Reuters, TVC, The Guardian, Premium Times, Daily Post, Daily Trust, DW, BBC, and Al Jazeera published follow-up reports on the incident.
DUBAWA visited the official communication handles of the Zamfara State Government and found no report of an attack in Zamfara. DUBAWA also searched for statements or press releases from the Zamfara State Police Command, but found nothing to substantiate the claim.
DUBAWA also contacted DSP Yazid Abubakar, the PRO of the Zamfara State Police, several times, but as of press time, we have not reached him. He did not pick up the calls.
DUBAWA also reached out to some residents of Zamfara State who denied the claim and said no such school exists in Zamfara State.
Zainab Mustapha, a resident of Gusau, said no such incident was recorded in the state and the school is not located in Zamfara.
Another resident, Muhammad Shehu, clarified that Maga is a town in Kebbi State; therefore, the incident likely happened in Kebbi State, not Zamfara as claimed.
This further corroborates DUBAWA’s investigations.
Conclusion
The claim that 40 students were abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, Zamfara State is false. Such an incident did not occur in Zamfara State, and Maga is a town in the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, not Zamfara State.
The image used in the post was traced to an abduction incident at Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, on Nov. 17, 2025.
This fellowship is implemented by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) with support from the European Union.