Boko Haram storms Borno school, abducts pupils

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have attacked a primary and junior secondary school in Mussa village, Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, with reports indicating that several pupils were abducted during the raid.

Residents said the attackers stormed the community on motorcycles in the early hours of Friday, shortly after troops conducting patrol operations reportedly left the area.

Sources in the village said the insurgents forced their way into the school premises, causing panic as students and residents fled for safety.

Although the exact number of abducted pupils could not be independently confirmed, locals claimed several children were taken away during the attack.

A resident of the community described the incident as devastating, saying many families were still searching for their children hours after the invasion.

The Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Askira, confirmed the attack but said details surrounding the number of abducted students were still unclear.

According to him, many pupils escaped into nearby bushes during the attack, while efforts were ongoing to determine how many children were missing.

He described the incident as disturbing, noting that the insurgents appeared to have monitored the movement of security personnel before launching the assault.

“This suggests the attackers were observing troop movements and struck shortly after the soldiers left the community,” he said.

The incident also triggered concern on social media, where users called for prayers and urgent intervention over reports of missing schoolchildren.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Borno State Police Command, Nahum Kenneth Daso, for official confirmation were unsuccessful as calls and text messages sent to him were not answered.