Suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Friday attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, with several pupils feared abducted.
The attack reportedly occurred around 9 am at Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Mussa community, near the fringes of the Sambisa Forest.
Confirming the incident, the President of the Borno South Youth Alliance, Samaila Kaigama, said the attackers stormed the school without resistance and took away an unspecified number of pupils.
He said, “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 added that the victims were pupils of a day school and not 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 said details surrounding possible abductions were still 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.
He described the incident as disheartening, noting that the insurgents reportedly struck shortly after troops on patrol left the community.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Borno State Police Command, ASP Nahum Daso, said the command had yet to receive full details of the incident.
“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 to his line were not answered.