Local hunters have successfully rescued seven female students following a terrifying ISWAP Borno student abduction at a secondary school on Monday.
The victims, who were among several NECO candidates kidnapped during a brazen raid in Askira-Uba, were freed after local vigilantes tracked the insurgents into dense forest networks. Security forces are currently on high alert across the region as search operations continue for the remaining missing pupils and staff.
The Askira-Uba School Attack
The crisis began during a busy market day in Lassa, a major hub within the Askira-Uba Local Government Area. Taking advantage of the local bustle, the armed insurgents infiltrated the community on motorcycles before launching a targeted Askira-Uba school attack on Government Day Secondary School.
The terrorists breached the school perimeter and stormed the main hall where students were sitting for their National Examinations Council (NECO) papers. Police public relations officer, Nahum Kenneth Daso, confirmed that the attackers quickly took control of the building.
According to Daso, the insurgents “went into the hall where the students were writing NECO examination and whisked away students and teachers to an unknown destination.”
He further revealed that the operation was highly planned: “It’s Lassa market day, so they took advantage, infiltrated the market on motorcycles and went to Government Day Secondary School, Lassa.
The raid quickly turned fatal. “They shot and killed one teacher and took away all the students who were in their classrooms,” Daso stated. He noted that the attackers were later confronted by security forces, an intervention which “minimised the scale of abduction.”
Borno Hunters Rescue Students in Forest Battle
Following the raid, local vigilante groups moved swiftly. Refusing to wait, local tracking experts pursued the fighters deep into the surrounding wilderness. The tracking operation led to a direct firefight in the bush, where Borno hunters rescued students after overwhelming a detachment of the terror group.
“They managed to free 7 students from their captors and handed them over to the military,” a local vigilante source reported.
The Councillor representing Lassa, Jagila Jabula, confirmed the successful recovery and noted that all seven of the freed individuals were girls. Expressing the community’s collective anxiety and hope, Jabula stated, “We are praying for the hunters to defeat the assailants and secure the release of our loved ones.”
Rising Security Fears in Askira-Uba
This latest ISWAP Borno student abduction highlights a worrying trend of insecurity in the region. This incident comes just 47 days after 42 pupils of Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School were abducted in the very same Askira-Uba local government area.
The lack of communication from the insurgents has left the community in deep distress. Parents of the pupils decried that they were not yet contacted by the abductors of their children, raising fear that their children might not be alive.
The police have stated that suspected ISWAP members carried out the abduction, and police are currently combing the bush to free the captives.
