After a head-count at the Nigerian-Turkish International College (NTIC) in Isheri, Ogun State today, five staff and three female students were found to have been kidnapped by gunmen on Friday night.
Among the victims were two Junior Secondary School (JSS) students and one Senior Secondary School (SSS) student.
According to the school principal, Yunus Emre Dogan, the victims were abducted from the female hostel at about 9:30pm, when the kidnappers dug through the fence and entered through a back door.
Also found missing are three Nigerian workers and two Turkish staff, including the hostel mistress and the mathematics teacher.
As parents rushed to the school to pick their wards today, one of them confirmed that his child was among the victims.
The man, Ahmad Ajani, identified his daughter as Hanatullah Aderinto Ajani who was preparing for her JAMB exams.
Most of the parents who came to pick their children blamed the school for inadequate security, poor lightening and swampy surroundings that has been giving them concern for long.
Conflicting reports from security agents, in the absence of a statement from the school, had earlier put the number of victims at between five and seven.
The first report on Friday described the victims as three students and two teachers. Policemen on the trail of the kidnappers later said they were searching for seven female students.
According to them, the kidnappers came in a boat and left in cars including a Hilux Jeep.
Early callers at the school today included Ogun State deputy governor, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga with military and police chiefs including the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone Two comprising Lagos and Ogun states, Mr Kayode Aderanti; Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Ilyasu; the Director of State Security in Ogun, Mr. Kabiru Sanni, and the Brigade Commander at 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta, Brigadier-General Basil Adonkie.