Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have invaded a primary and junior secondary school in Mussa village, Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, abducting an unspecified number of students.
Sources in the village said the attackers, who arrived in large numbers on motorcycles, stormed the school on Friday shortly after military personnel left the community.
A resident said several children were kidnapped during the attack, although the exact number could not be independently confirmed.
“Yes, the attack happened in the early hours of today (Friday) and it was discovered that many children were abducted,” the resident said.
The Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Askira, confirmed the attack but declined to state whether any children had been abducted.
“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 disturbing, noting that the insurgents attacked only a few minutes after troops on patrol departed the town.
“This signifies that the attackers were spying on the movement of troops before they struck,” he said.
Posts circulating on social media, particularly Facebook, called for prayers over the attack and the alleged abduction of schoolchildren.
One Facebook user, Solomon Mussa, wrote: “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.”
Efforts to contact the spokesperson for the Borno State Police Command, Nahum Kenneth Daso, were unsuccessful as he neither answered calls nor replied to text messages.