One of the schoolgirls abducted alongside 24 others from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, has escaped and is now safe, according to the school principal, who spoke to the Associated Press on Tuesday. The girls were kidnapped before dawn on Monday when armed men scaled the school’s perimeter fence, exchanged gunfire with police officers, and seized the students after killing a staff member. The attack is the latest in a long string of mass abductions that have plagued northwestern Nigeria.

Jocomms Correspondent reports that a second student also managed to get away in the immediate aftermath of the raid, avoiding capture as the gunmen fled with the rest of the girls. Hunters familiar with the dense forests surrounding Maga have joined security forces in an intensified search operation, sweeping areas frequently used as hideouts by bandit gangs. Although no group has claimed responsibility, authorities and local analysts say the kidnapping reflects the tactics of armed bandits—many of them former herders—who target schools, travelers, and remote communities for ransom amid worsening resource conflicts.

A video verified by the Associated Press shows the two escaped schoolgirls, appearing to be in their early teens, seated quietly among relatives and villagers, their hijabs draped over solemn faces as they process the trauma of the attack. With mass school kidnappings still rampant across northern Nigeria, the nation is once again confronted with a painful question—how long until students can learn without fear of being taken? Visit www.jocomms.com for more news.