Nigeria mass kidnapping sees 25 school girls snatched and staff member shot

Armed attackers have stormed a secondary school in Nigeria and kidnapped 25 schoolgirls, police said

Armed attackers have forced their way into a secondary school in northwestern Nigeria, kidnapping 25 schoolgirls and shooting one staff member, police said.

The mass kidnapping took place at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi state , at around 4.00am local time on Monday, according to police, who said the gang was armed with "sophisticated weapons" and fired "sporadically".

The attackers "engaged police personnel on duty in a gun duel" and then "scaled through the fence of the school and abducted twenty-five students from their hostel to unknown destination", a police statement said.

The school's deputy head was shot dead and a security guard sustained