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Lafia, Nasarawa State – November 21, 2025
The Nasarawa State Police Command has firmly dismissed widespread social media claims that gunmen abducted pupils from St. Peter’s Academy, a private primary school located in Rukubi community, Doma Local Government Area of the state. The rumor, which spread like wildfire on Friday, was fueled by a distressing viral video showing anxious parents rushing to the school premises to pick up their children, many of whom were still dressed in the school’s distinctive uniform of yellow tops and blue skirts or shorts.
The footage, which surfaced on various WhatsApp groups, Twitter (now X), and Facebook pages, captured scenes of palpable fear: crying children being carried away by parents, some running barefoot, while others clung tightly to their guardians. The video quickly amassed thousands of views and shares within hours, with captions alleging that “bandits have stormed another school in Nasarawa” and “many pupils kidnapped in broad daylight.” The timing could not have been worse—the clip began circulating only hours after a confirmed bandit attack on St. Mary’s Private (Catholic) Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of neighboring Niger State, where armed men invaded students’ hostels in the dead of night and abducted an unspecified number of teenagers. That incident, which occurred in the early hours of Friday, reignited national trauma over recurring school abductions in northern Nigeria, reminiscent of the 2014 Chibok girls’ kidnapping and subsequent attacks in Dapchi, Kankara, Kagara, and Jangebe.
The confluence of the verified Niger State attack and the unverified Nasarawa video created a perfect storm of anxiety across the country. Parents in Nasarawa and nearby states began flooding school WhatsApp groups with frantic messages, while some schools reportedly closed prematurely for the weekend as a precautionary measure. By midday Friday, #NasarawaSchoolAttack and #SaveOurChildren were trending on Nigerian Twitter, with users sharing the video alongside pleas for government intervention and prayers for the “abducted” children’s safe return.
However, in a swift intervention that helped douse the escalating tension, the Nasarawa State Police Command issued an official statement debunking the abduction narrative entirely. The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, addressed journalists and released a press statement clarifying the true sequence of events.
According to DSP Nansel, the incident at St. Peter’s Academy occurred during the school’s regular sporting activities on Friday morning. A group of local hunters, who are part of the state’s community vigilante network and often patrol the bush paths surrounding rural communities, passed close to the school premises while returning from a routine operation. The hunters were openly carrying their locally made Dane guns—long-barreled muzzle-loading firearms traditionally used for hunting game in the region.
The sight of armed men, even though they were known community hunters, triggered instant panic among the pupils who were outside participating in sports. In the prevailing climate of insecurity, where banditry and kidnapping have become frequent headlines, the children mistook the hunters for kidnappers. A stampede ensued as terrified pupils bolted in different directions, some scaling the school fence, others running into nearby bushes or toward the gate. Teachers and school staff struggled to maintain order, but the fear had already spread.
Hearing the commotion, parents who lived nearby rushed to the school, and soon a large crowd gathered. Many parents, already on edge because of the fresh news from Niger State, insisted on taking their children home immediately. Mobile phone cameras captured the chaotic evacuation, and within minutes, the video was online—edited and shared with alarming captions that transformed a case of mistaken identity into a full-blown abduction story.
DSP Nansel emphasized that no pupil was harmed, no shot was fired, and certainly no child was taken against their will by criminals. “What happened was a case of panic triggered by the presence of local hunters who were legitimately carrying their hunting rifles,” he explained. “The children thought they were seeing kidnappers and ran for safety. Their parents, acting out of love and fear, came to pick them up. There was no abduction, no invasion, and no confrontation.”
To underscore the police’s proactive handling of the situation, the spokesperson revealed that the Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, CP Shetima Jauro Mohammed, immediately directed the deployment of a joint team comprising police mobile units, counter-terrorism operatives, and military personnel from the 177 Guards Battalion already stationed in Doma axis. The team stormed the school environment, conducted a thorough search of the premises and surrounding bushes, took statements from the head teacher, staff, parents, and even the hunters involved, and confirmed that every single pupil had been safely reunited with their families.
By Friday evening, calm had returned to Rukubi community. The police urged the public to always verify information before sharing, warning that the dissemination of false reports not only causes unnecessary panic but also diverts scarce security resources that could be deployed elsewhere.
The incident, while ultimately harmless, highlights the deep-seated trauma that years of banditry and school abductions have inflicted on communities in northern Nigeria. Parents now live in perpetual fear, and children have become conditioned to associate any sight of firearms—even in the hands of community protectors—with mortal danger. Educationists have called for sustained psychological support in schools located in volatile areas and for stronger collaboration between security agencies and community vigilantes to prevent such misunderstandings.
As Nigeria grapples with yet another weekend overshadowed by insecurity—this time a real attack in Niger State and a false alarm in Nasarawa—citizens continue to demand more decisive action from federal and state authorities to end the cycle of terror that has turned schools from sanctuaries of learning into potential targets.
