A routine security operation at Government Day Secondary School, Dutse, Abuja, spiralled into confusion on Monday after students misinterpreted the arrival of soldiers as an attempted kidnapping, triggering widespread panic across the campus.
The scare highlights growing public anxiety in the wake of repeated terror-related incidents nationwide and comes just a week after pupils in Rukubi, Doma LGA of Nasarawa State, similarly fled in fear after mistaking local hunters for kidnappers.
When Vanguard visited the Dutse school, many students were still visibly shaken, reflecting the tension that now shadows daily school life in vulnerable communities.
According to school officials, the school has a long-standing policy of inviting police or military personnel to maintain order and provide security during major examinations, especially on days when core subjects such as English, Mathematics, Biology, or Economics are written. But this time, the presence of uniformed soldiers led to a misunderstanding.
Witnesses said a student — either acting out of fear or mischief — raised a false alarm, claiming that bandits had invaded the school. The rumour spread swiftly, sending students running in different directions, with some attempting to climb the school fence.
A senior administrative staff member, who preferred anonymity, debunked claims of an attack. “Nothing happened today. There were no kidnappers. It was just soldiers,” the official clarified.
The staff member explained that the school was conducting major examinations and invited the military as a precautionary measure. “We wrote Mathematics and Economics today. Tensions are always high on such days, so it is our rule to invite either the police or army to maintain order,” the official said.
The panic, the official added, was largely driven by students amplifying one another’s fears. “One of them saw the army and shouted that insurgents were around. That was how they started running. Some even tried to jump the fence, but the soldiers called them back. No one escaped from the school.”
Examinations eventually proceeded without further incident, and students dispersed peacefully after the session.
The scare occurred just hours after the Federal Capital Territory Police Command announced it had foiled a planned large-scale kidnap attempt in Abuja, following recent abductions in ACO Community, Gwagwalada, and Bwari.
Police spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, said intelligence reports revealed that a criminal network was plotting another attack on “a community” on or before December 1, 2025. The unnamed location has heightened anxiety among residents of several Abuja suburbs.
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