Panic In Borno As Terrorists Attack Lassa Community, Abduct Students

June 29 () — Panic swept through the Lassa community in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State on Monday after suspected Boko Haram terrorists launched a deadly attack on Government Day Secondary School, killing a teacher and abducting dozens of students.

The insurgents reportedly invaded the border community with neighbouring Adamawa State during Lassa’s weekly market day, arriving on motorcycles and opening fire as frightened residents fled for safety. The attackers later stormed the school, where students were sitting the ongoing National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations, before whisking away an unspecified number of candidates and their teachers.

The Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, Mr Solomon Kwamagar, who hails from Lassa, confirmed the incident, saying the attackers moved into the school after passing through the crowded market.

“Today is Lassa market day. I was informed that they came through the market on motorcycles and went to Government Day Secondary School, Lassa. They shot and killed one teacher and took away all the students who were in their classrooms”, Kwamagar said.

He, however, noted that the exact number of students and teachers abducted was yet to be determined, adding that efforts were ongoing to obtain accurate information from the community.

reports that Monday’s attack is the latest in a series of assaults on schools in Askira/Uba Local Government Area. On May 15, terrorists abducted 42 pupils from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in the same council area. More than six weeks later, the children, including toddlers as young as two years old, remain in captivity, with no official information on their whereabouts.

Reacting to the latest attack, the member representing Askira/Uba Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Midala Usman Balami, condemned the recurring assaults on Mussa and Lassa communities, describing the latest incident as tragic and unacceptable.

Balami expressed concern that security challenges continued to be overshadowed by political issues, urging authorities constitutionally responsible for deploying and coordinating the nation’s security architecture to take decisive action to protect lives and property.

He extended his condolences to the families of those killed, prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and expressed hope for the safe rescue of the abducted students and teachers, as well as the restoration of lasting peace across the affected communities.

As of the time of filing this report, neither the Nigerian military nor the Borno State Police Command had issued an official statement confirming the attack or disclosing the number of casualties and abductees. Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Nahum Kenneth Daso, for comments were unsuccessful.