Armed Men Abduct Dozens of Schoolchildren in Nigeria’s Borno State Attack

Armed Men Abduct Dozens of Schoolchildren in Nigeria’s Borno State Attack
————————————-
Armed attackers kidnapped dozens of students after storming Musa Primary and Secondary School in the Askira-Uba area of Borno State on Friday morning, in one of the latest mass kidnappings in northeastern Nigeria.

Local residents and a school teacher told Al Jazeera that the attackers arrived on motorcycles around 9 a.m. local time and opened fire as classes were underway, forcing panic among students and staff inside the school compound.

Witnesses said several students managed to escape into nearby bushes, but a significant number were taken away by the armed group, with the exact number of abducted children still unclear as security forces continue to assess the situation.

Nigeria has faced a prolonged insurgency for more than 17 years, driven by armed groups including Boko Haram and its splinter factions, which have repeatedly targeted schools, villages, and security forces across the northeast region.

Mass kidnappings of schoolchildren, particularly in rural northern Nigeria, have become a recurring tactic used by militant groups to spread fear, secure ransom payments, and challenge state authority, most notably the 2014 Chibok abduction that drew global attention.