Boko Haram abducts school children in Borno

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have abducted an unspecified number of pupils at a primary and Junior Secondary School in Mussa village, Askira-Uba LGA of Borno State. Recall that, in March, over 400 women and children were abducted during the Boko Haram attack on Ngoshe town, where both civilians and military lost their lives. In this […]

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have abducted an unspecified number of pupils at a primary and Junior Secondary School in Mussa village, Askira-Uba LGA of Borno State.

Recall that, in March, over 400 women and children were abducted during the Boko Haram attack on Ngoshe town, where both civilians and military lost their lives.

In this latest attacks and abductions, residents told Weekend Trust that the assailants, in large numbers, forced their way into the school on motorcycle on Friday, and carried-out the operation.

One of the residents, who pleaded anonymity, said 20 school children were declared abducted during the early morning invasion.

He revealed that residents were afraid that the insurgents might have taken the children to conscript them, which they described as a disaster to the entire community.

“As at the last count, 20 children are said to be abducted from the school. Our fear is that the terrorists would conscript  them if the security operatives did not rescue them,” he said.

Another resident said the insurgents first attacked two adjoining villages on Thursday night before they invaded the Mussa school where the children were abducted.

“In Gandarma village, they killed one person, while in Banbasu village; they killed five people and set ablaze many houses.

“So, it was concluded that the target was the school and the attacks were to divert security attention,” he said.

He said that there were isolated kidnapping in the area in the past, but children were never targeted.

“They used to abduct one or two grown up men and release them sometimes unlike in the Northwest where bandits abduct people to demand ransom,” he said.

He said the danger that parents in the villages were facing is that children no longer want to attend schools for fear of Boko Haram attacks.

“In most cases, the schools were destroyed by the insurgents. Children often outgrown school ages, and they don’t attend Islamic school,” he said.

He complained that leaving the children without attending schools would make them easy prey for the Boko Haram terrorists.

“What will surprise you is that, schools are not functioning in the home towns of top government official and they are not making any effort to save the situation,” he said

Earlier, the Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly,  Abdullahi Askira, confirmed the attack, but declined comment on whether children were abducted.

“Details of the attack are sketchy, but the information at my disposal was that many of the students fled into the bush, but I don’t have details of those abducted yet” he said.

The deputy speaker described the situation as disheartening, saying the insurgents struck a few minutes after troops on patrol left the community.

“This signifies that the attackers were spying on the movement of troops before they struck,” he said.

Posts on social media, Facebook, in particular called for prayers over the attack and the suspected school children abduction.

“Good morning, beloved. Please pray for the Mussa; Boko Haram attack in Mussa village now. According to a report coming out from Mussa, school children were affected,” one of the social media channel users, Solomon Mussa, appealed.

Mussa is a remote village and shares a border with Sambisa Forest, an enclave and hideout of terrorists

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks or abduction of the school children.

But, there is a report that security operatives were able to rescue some of the from the abductees, an information this paper is yet to verify as of press time.

Effort to speak to the Public Relations Officer of Borno State Police Command, ASP Nahum Kenneth Daso, proved abortive as he did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him.