Dozens of students remained missing on Tuesday after armed attackers raided a secondary school in north-eastern Nigeria while pupils were taking their National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.
The attack happened on Monday morning at Government Day Secondary School in Lassa, located in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. Nigerian police described the incident as a terrorist attack.
According to police spokesperson ASP Nuhu Kenneth Daso, the gunmen struck shortly after 9 a.m. Local reports said the attackers arrived on motorcycles during the town's market day, opened fire and forced students and members of staff away from the school.
Officials said security forces quickly launched a search operation. Police and military personnel were deployed into nearby bush areas in an effort to rescue those taken.
By Tuesday, state authorities said at least 36 students and one staff member were still being held. Eight people, including the school's vice-principal, had already been rescued.
Borno State Commissioner for Education Lawan Abba Wakilbe said those still missing included 25 girls, 11 boys and one member of staff.
Reports on the number of casualties differed. Some media outlets said one teacher was killed during the attack, while Amnesty International Nigeria reported that two teachers and one student lost their lives.
Witnesses and security officials said the attackers wore military-style clothing, including camouflage and uniforms similar to those used by forest guards. Reports suggested the disguise may have been intended to make the gunmen appear to be legitimate security personnel.
Although no group immediately claimed responsibility, suspicion has fallen on Boko Haram or its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), both of which have carried out similar attacks across north-eastern Nigeria in recent years.
Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted schools because of its opposition to Western-style education. The militant group has been linked to numerous kidnappings, including the widely known abduction of schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014. Over the years, its violence has affected both Christian and Muslim communities across the region.
For many Christians living in northern Nigeria, attacks by extremist groups remain part of an ongoing security crisis. Churches, villages, pastors, farmers and schools have all faced repeated violence, leaving many communities living with continued fear and uncertainty. Authorities have not released details about the religious background of those abducted in the latest incident.
Human rights organisation Amnesty International has warned that repeated attacks on schools are preventing many children from receiving an education. The organisation says numerous mass kidnappings of schoolchildren have been recorded since the Chibok abduction, with school closures across several northern states disrupting learning for thousands of young people.
Following the attack in Lassa, Amnesty urged the Nigerian government to strengthen protection for schools and ensure children can learn in safety without fear of armed groups.
The students targeted in the attack were reported to be between 15 and 18 years old and were sitting their NECO examinations, an important qualification for secondary school students in Nigeria.
Security analyst Polycarp Garba questioned how quickly emergency responders were able to react, noting that the attack happened in broad daylight despite the region's long history of insurgent violence. He said the incident raises further questions about emergency response capabilities in affected areas.
The school raid comes only weeks after Nigerian security forces announced successful operations against insurgent groups in the north-east. Earlier in June, the army rescued more than 300 people who had been abducted from Ngoshe, while officials also reported that a joint Nigerian and United States operation had killed 175 ISWAP fighters during separate operations in May.
As search efforts continue, families in Lassa are still waiting for news of their loved ones. What should have been a day focused on national examinations has instead become another painful reminder of the continuing threat faced by schools and communities across northern Nigeria.
Adapted and rewritten from ICC News, with additional reporting from other news sources.
