Suspected militants abduct students in Nigeria’s Borno state, residents say

By Ahmed Kingimi and Adewale Kolawole

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, May 15 (Reuters) – Suspected militants abducted an unspecified number of students from a primary and junior secondary school in Nigeria’s insurgency-ravaged northeastern state of Borno on Friday, residents said.

Gunmen stormed Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira-Uba Local Government Area at around 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) while classes were in session and took several students, said Ubaidallah Hasaan, who lives near the school.

A teacher at the school told Reuters the armed attackers had arrived on motorcycles.

“Despite some students escaping to the bushes, I can tell you many were taken away,” the teacher said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack which bore the hallmark of the Islamist militia Boko Haram.

In 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 girls in Chibok in Borno state, drawing global condemnation. The state has not witnessed another school kidnapping since.

Nigeria’s police and military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The community of Mussa lies near the fringes of the Sambisa Forest, a long-standing stronghold of Islamist insurgents who have waged a campaign of violence in northeast Nigeria for more than a decade.

Local lawmaker Midala Usman Balami called the attack “heartbreaking” and urged authorities to act swiftly.

Borno and neighbouring states have seen repeated attacks on schools and communities despite ongoing military operations, raising concerns about security gaps in rural areas.

Mass kidnappings by armed groups have become a major security challenge in Nigeria in recent years, with schools often targeted, although such attacks are less frequent in the northeast than in the northwest.

In a separate incident on Friday, gunmen abducted students at Baptist Nursery and Primary School in the southwestern state of Oyo. The state has ordered school closures in the area while police launched a manhunt for the abductors.

(Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja and Ardo Hazzad in Bauchi; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Daniel Wallis)