Three killed, 37 missing in Nigeria school attack

Three people were killed in an armed attack on a secondary school in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state. At least 37 people, including students, are missing after the attack during exams, AFP news agency confirmed on Tuesday (June 30), citing local authorities.
The local authorities said members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group carried out the attack. Students were taking exams at a secondary school in the town of Lassa in Borno state on Monday when gunmen stormed the school and took students and staff hostage. The region has long been plagued by violence by armed groups.
Initially, the Nigerian army said that 10 people had been rescued after the attack and only one was missing. However, according to updated information from the local administration and education department, 37 people are still missing. Among them are 25 female students, 11 male students and a school staff member.
Borno State Education Commissioner Lawan Abba Wakilbe said eight people, including the school’s assistant principal, had already been freed. The local administration also released a list of missing students, including their names, genders and mobile phone numbers of their guardians. The military confirmed that the three people killed in the attack included a soldier and a teacher.
Kidnapping students for ransom has become a common tactic for armed groups and bandits in northern and central Nigeria. The 2014 kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls from the town of Chibok by Boko Haram sparked global outrage. Despite this, school-based kidnappings have not stopped in the country.
Last May, more than 40 students were kidnapped from Musa village in Borno state and are still missing. In the same month, many students were kidnapped from three schools in the southwestern state of Oyo. Nigeria has been battling an armed insurgency in the northeast since 2009. Although violence has declined slightly compared to a decade ago, analysts say armed attacks in the country have increased again since last year.

Source: Al Jazeera