Another large-scale security breach occured in Borno State on Monday as suspected fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) invaded Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, in Askira-Uba LGA, to abduct an unspecified number of students
The Borno State Police Command confirmed that the armed insurgents stormed the classrooms and examination halls during Monday’s attack, fatally shooting a teacher before ferrying away students who were taking their final year National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.
According to reports from the police and local sources, the tragic incident unfolded with terrifying precision as the criminal elements easily infiltrated the community, taking advantage of the bustling community market day.
Police Public Relations Officer, Nahum Kenneth Daso, who spoke on the incident with reporters, said the attackers stormed Lassa community on motorcycles and easily bypassed a nearby military outpost and headed straight for the School around 9:00 a.m under the guise of the market day.
He said: “It’s Lassa market day, so they took advantage, infiltrated 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 the examination hall.”
Security sources hinted that the gunmen, who fired indiscriminately into the air, stormed the classrooms and went after students writing NECO, but the quick response and swift intervention of security forces, including the military and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), successfully curtailed the scale of abduction.
One of the sources disclosed that relevant security agencies quickly launched a coordinated manhunt to track the insurgents and rescue the abducted students.
Meanwhile, also confirming that the rescue operations are ongoing, the Borno State Commissioner for Information, disclosed that a multi-agency rescue team has been activated and actively combing the surrounding forests to locate and free several students and teachers whisked away to an unknown destination.
Coming about 47 days after 42 pupils of Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School were kidnapped in the same Askira-Uba Local Government Area, the incident has thrown the community into panic mode.
This is parents and guardians of the victims have been lamenting that the kidnappers are yet to make any contact, a development that has raised fears and serious concerns over the fate of their children.
