Mohammed Ali Ndume on Saturday confirmed that at least 42 students, including children, were kidnapped after suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists attacked Primary and Junior Government Day Secondary School (GDSS) Mussa in Askira-Uba last Friday.
He also urged security agencies, particularly the troops of the Joint Task Force North East, “Operation HADIN KAI,” to step up efforts to rescue the victims.
According to the senator, the disturbing attack has left many parents and guardians devastated, describing the act as barbaric and heartbreaking.
Ndume, whose constituency has faced repeated attacks and destruction in recent times, especially Thursday’s assault on some Chibok communities including Bambatsu and Ngadarma where several residents, among them elderly people, were killed, said the abduction at the Mussa schools was even more alarming because it occurred while struggling but determined students were attending early morning classes.
The senator disclosed this in a statement personally signed and released to journalists in Maiduguri.
He explained that information made available to him by the school authorities showed that “four (4) students were abducted from the GDSS (two male and two female), 28 pupils were abducted from the primary section, while 10 children were abducted from their various residential houses, making total of 42 persons”.
Ndume, a former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, renewed his appeal to security agencies, particularly the Nigerian Army, to intensify rescue operations for the innocent victims.
He also expressed sympathy to families who lost loved ones in the attacks on Chibok communities and other incidents across the Southern Borno Senatorial District.
