Suspected fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) took all students who were in their classrooms during Monday’s attack on Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, police have said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Nahum Kenneth Daso, told Daily Trust that the attackers entered Lassa on motorcycles during the community’s market day before moving to the school.
“It’s Lassa market day, so they took advantage, infiltrated the market on motorcycles and went to Government Day Secondary School, Lassa,” Daso said.
“They shot and killed one teacher and took away all the students who were in their classrooms.”
Daso said the suspected ISWAP members met resistance from security forces, which helped reduce the number of people abducted.
Local sources said the gunmen stormed the school around 9 a.m., firing shots before forcing their way into the examination hall where final-year students were writing their National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations. They reportedly took several students and teachers to an unknown location.
The police spokesman said security personnel were searching the surrounding bush to rescue the victims.
The attack came 47 days after 42 pupils of Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School were abducted in the same Askira-Uba Local Government Area.
On Sunday, parents of the abducted pupils said they had not been contacted by the kidnappers, deepening fears about the fate of their children.
