Senator representing Kebbi South, Garba Maidoki, on Wednesday said the schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, remain within Kebbi State and could be rescued “within days” as troops intensify pursuit of the armed bandits.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Maidoki revealed that security intelligence confirms the victims have not been moved out of Kebbi South, despite attempts by the abductors to evade detection along familiar forest corridors.

“We have a fair idea of where the girls are. From all indications, they have not crossed outside Kebbi South. There is huge hope that these girls will be returned home in the next one or two days,” he said.

The senator, who visited Maga to commiserate with families of those killed, described the attack as a coordinated operation executed by economic bandits who invaded the community at dawn on about 100 motorcycles, carrying nearly 300 armed men.

According to him, the school was the direct target, having been under surveillance by criminal groups for a long period.

He recounted how the school’s vice principal was shot dead in his home after refusing to reveal the girls’ location, while another security guard at the school was killed for resisting the attackers.

“The top security man who reluctantly led them to the girls’ hostel managed to slip away once their attention shifted to grabbing the students,” he added.

Patriotic Insights News had earlier reported that 25 students were abducted during the Monday morning raid, which also left several security personnel injured in an exchange of gunfire before the attackers scaled the school fence.

Maidoki stressed that the perpetrators are not ideological extremists but economic bandits exploiting the porous borders between Zamfara, Kebbi and Niger states. He noted that most incursions originate from Zamfara through the Zuru Emirate corridor.

He explained that the attackers operated in Maga for over an hour, escaping with the schoolgirls and a large number of cattle through known farm routes that lead towards the Kebbi–Zamfara border.

Although an Army checkpoint is located about five kilometres from the community, the senator lamented that the number of deployed soldiers was insufficient to repel such a large force.

“With 300 armed bandits arriving on motorcycles and only 25 soldiers on the ground, it becomes a suicide mission. Their first priority becomes self-defence,” he said.

Maidoki faulted delays in establishing a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the area despite land acquisition and compensation already completed. He blamed insufficient manpower across the security services, saying the Armed Forces lack the numbers required to confront the scale of insecurity affecting the region.

He said Vice President Kashim Shettima, top military commanders and senior federal officials are currently in Kebbi to coordinate the rescue operation, underscoring the seriousness of the incident.

The senator described Maga as “a ghost of itself”, with traumatised parents still struggling to process the abduction.

“Some parents still think they will wake up from this nightmare and find their children at home,” he said, adding that only one schoolgirl managed to escape while the injured principal is now stable.

He described the attack as the most devastating moment of his political career, noting that the tragedy struck at the heart of his constituency despite earlier progress in pushing bandits out of more than 200 villages in Zuru Emirate.

He warned that several other schools in Kebbi South remain vulnerable, with parents contemplating withdrawing their children.

“Our immediate priority is recovering these girls. Afterwards, we will sit with the government to determine the next steps for school security,” he said.