At least 37 students remain missing after suspected fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked a secondary school in Lassa, Borno State, local authorities have confirmed.
The attack occurred on Monday while students were writing examinations. The assailants reportedly stormed the school, killing at least three people, including a soldier and a teacher, before abducting students and staff.
Initial reports from the military indicated that 10 abducted persons had been rescued, with only one individual still unaccounted for. However, local officials have since confirmed that 37 students and one staff member remain in captivity.
The list of missing students, containing their names, genders and their parents’ contact details, was made available to journalists by the councillor representing the area, Ijagla Ijabila.
Borno State Commissioner for Education, Lawan Abba Wakilbe, said 25 female students, 11 male students and one staff member were still being held by the attackers.
Lawan Abba Wakilbe also confirmed that eight people, including the school’s vice principal, had been rescued.
The latest abduction highlights the persistent security challenges facing schools in parts of northern Nigeria, where kidnappings for ransom have become a recurring tactic employed by armed groups and criminal gangs.
Nigeria’s most widely known school abduction occurred in 2014, when hundreds of schoolgirls were kidnapped from Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram insurgents. Despite increased security efforts, attacks on educational institutions have continued.
In May this year, more than 40 pupils were abducted from Mussa village in Borno State and remain in captivity. During the same month, armed men also kidnapped dozens of students from three schools in Oyo State, an uncommon incident in Nigeria’s southwest region.
Nigeria has battled an armed insurgency in the northeast since 2009. Although the intensity of the conflict has declined from its peak more than a decade ago, security analysts have warned of a resurgence in attacks since last year.
Source: Aljazeera
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