The principal and proprietor of Daarulkitab Islamic Training Centre in Zariagi, Kogi State, Mohammed Tajudeen, has clarified that the students previously reported as rescued actually escaped from their captors.
Suspected armed bandits attacked the school late Sunday, April 26, 2026, abducting 23 pupils and the proprietor's wife. The Kogi State Government initially confirmed the attack and stated that security agencies had rescued 15 of the abducted pupils. The Kogi State Police Command later updated the number to 17 rescued pupils.
However, during an on-the-spot assessment, Tajudeen told journalists: "Those who are available now ran away when the kidnappers came. They were not rescued, but they escaped. They hid inside the bush."
Reacting to the state Commissioner for Information's claim that Daarulkitab Group of Schools was not registered, Tajudeen asserted: "The school is registered with CAC and the Ministry of Women Affairs; I have the documents to back our registration. Darul Kitab was registered separately."
The police also confirmed that the two women, who are the wives of the school principal, were taken to an unknown destination.
