Gunmen Invade Borno School, Abduct Pupils
Suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked a school in Borno State on Friday morning, carting away an unspecified number of pupils in what witnesses described as a swift and unopposed raid deep within a conflict zone bordering the dreaded Sambisa Forest.
The attack occurred around 9 am at Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in the Mussa community, situated on the fringes of Sambisa Forest in Askira Uba Local Government Area, a region that has remained among the most volatile flashpoints in Nigeria’s protracted northeast insurgency.
The President of the Borno South Youth Alliance, Samaila Kaigama, confirmed the incident, stating that the attackers entered the school compound without encountering any resistance before departing with the children.
“Yes, they came this morning, they packed some children, number unspecified yet. I was reliably informed that the abductors are the same faction that did the Ngoshe kidnapping,” Kaigama said.
He further clarified the nature of the school, noting that the victims were day pupils rather than boarders. “They came this morning and picked some primary school pupils. It is a day school and not a boarding school. They attacked without any resistance. It happened around 9 am today,” he added.
The Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Askira, also confirmed the attack but acknowledged that definitive information on the number of children taken remained unclear.
“Details of the attack are sketchy, but the information at my disposal has it that many of the students fled into the bush, but I don’t have details of those abducted,” he said.
Askira described the incident as deeply disheartening, noting that the insurgents reportedly exploited a window of vulnerability by striking shortly after a military patrol had departed the community, raising fresh concerns about the adequacy and consistency of security coverage in remote border settlements.
The spokesperson for the Borno State Police Command, ASP Nahum Daso, said the command had yet to receive a full account of what transpired. “As of now, I have not gotten any information. We are still making verification,” he said.
Efforts to reach the chairman of Askira Uba Local Government Area, Madu Saidu, were unsuccessful, as calls placed to his telephone line went unanswered.
The Mussa community attack bears strong similarities to previous abductions linked to Boko Haram factions operating within the Sambisa Forest corridor, including the Ngoshe kidnapping that Kaigama referenced.