Students missing following attack by armed groups on school in northeastern Nigeria, police say

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — An unspecified number of students are missing after suspected jihadi militants attacked a secondary school in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state on Friday, police told The Associated Press.

Several students cannot be accounted for after the attack, Nahum Daso, Borno police spokesperson said, adding that it is unclear if students were abducted and they can only confirm details of many students who “fled for safety during the pandemonium.”

The attack happened early morning in Askira-Uba, which borders the Sambisa Forest — a stronghold for armed groups — and was carried out by militants from Muslim militant group Boko Haram and its splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province, according to the police spokesperson.

Abduction of school children is common in Nigeria, where the government is battling several armed groups across the country. Analysts say the armed groups, including Boko Haram, often target schools for high ransoms as they tend to gain the government’s attention.

Residents said the militants already abducted dozens of the students.

“Two of my nieces, both under the age of 10, were among the pupils taken away to an unknown destination,” said a resident who spoke to the AP anonymously for fear of reprisal.

The police said a headcount is still ongoing to determine if there was an abduction.

Last year, two mass abductions from schools rocked the West African nation, with over 300 children taken in the conflict-battered northern region.

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Haruna Umar, The Associated Press