False Alarm Sparks Chaos In Abuja School As Students Confuse Soldiers For Kidnappers

…Police Foil Another Kidnap Attempt In Bwari, Gwagwalada

There was tension in Government Day Secondary School, Dutse, in Abuja, after some of the students mistook security personnel who were invited to the school to conduct routine checks for kidnappers.

The tension within the school premises reflects the rising fear and confusion among Nigerians amid repeated attacks by terrorists across the country.

The development mirrored a similar scare a week earlier in Rukubi, Doma LGA of Nasarawa State, where primary pupils mistook hunters with Dane guns for kidnappers.

A visit by THE WHISTLER to the school in Abuja showed that many students now attend classes with heightened anxiety.

The school routinely invites either police officers or soldiers to secure the premises during major examinations involving general papers such as English, mathematics, biology, and economics.

It was gathered that on the examination day, the presence of soldiers triggered fear when a student misinterpreted their arrival as an invasion by bandits.

The false alarm quickly spread, causing fear and panic, which prompted many pupils to run, while several others scaled over the school fence.

A senior administrative staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, dismissed rumours of an attack or abduction.

The staff member said, “Nothing happened today; there were no kidnappers or kidnapping at the school, but just soldiers.

“Currently, we are writing exams, and today we wrote one of our general papers, mathematics and economics, and as usual on days like this, tensions are high. So, we had to curb these children’s excesses by inviting security personnel for safety.

“This is the school rule to either engage the police or the army. So, we engaged the army, and they came to man the gates for the exams to be peaceful.”

The official added, “You know, children, they can always incite tensions among themselves. So, one of them saw the army and said the insurgents are around, and that was how they started running.

“Some attempted to jump the school fence, but it was the soldiers who told them to come back, but they didn’t run out of the school.

“We wrote the exams today; I even invigilated today, and everyone left peacefully.”

The incident occurred hours after the FCT Police Command announced that it had foiled a planned large-scale attack within the territory.

Police said recent kidnappings in the ACO Community, Gwagwalada, and Bwari prompted the Commissioner of Police to order intensified operations against active syndicates.

According to the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, intelligence showed that a criminal gang had concluded plans to strike again on or before December 1, 2025.

She said, “Acting swiftly on this intelligence, FCT Police operatives on 30th November 2025 at about 02:11 PM traced and arrested one of the key conspirators, a wanted kidnapper and armed robbery suspect named Sani Mohammed Umar a.k.a. Boko, and his mobile phone, suspected to be the primary device used in coordinating the criminal operations, was recovered from him.”

Adeh stated that the suspect admitted belonging to the group behind previous kidnappings in ACO, Dupa, and Gwagwalada, as well as armed robberies in Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali.

She added, “At about 11:01 PM, the Anti-Kidnapping team, led by the OC-Anti-Kidnapping, tactically advanced into the forest, reached the gang’s meeting point, and laid a well-planned ambush. On sighting the operatives, the heavily armed bandits opened fire.

“The Police responded decisively, engaging the criminals in a fierce 30-minute gun duel, during which three of the bandits were neutralised. While other gang members escaped with suspected gunshot wounds.

“Items recovered from the scene include three AK-47 rifles and three magazines with 33 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.”

Adeh explained that police teams and the Nigerian Army’s Forward Operation Base, 176 Battalion, Kwali, are conducting joint clearance operations in the forests and blocking escape routes.

She noted that medical facilities across the region were also instructed to report individuals with gunshot wounds.