Gunmen kidnapped dozens of pupils from a school in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state on Friday, residents and a teacher told Reuters and AFP. The attackers stormed Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira-Uba Local Government Area at about 9 am (08:00 GMT) while classes were in session.
Ubaidallah Hasaan, who lives near the school, said the suspected fighters took several students. A teacher at the school reported that armed attackers arrived on motorcycles, and despite some students escaping into the bushes, many were taken away.
No group claimed responsibility for the raid, which bore the hallmark of the Boko Haram group. Local lawmaker Midala Usman Balami called the attack "heartbreaking" and urged authorities to act swiftly.
Africa's most populous country is battling a 17-year armed rebellion from such groups, who have made abductions a key tactic – including the infamous 2014 kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls in Chibok.
Mass kidnappings have become a common way for gangs and armed groups to make quick money in Nigeria, especially in rural areas with little government presence. A few weeks ago, gunmen raided an orphanage and kidnapped at least 23 children in Kogi State.
Borno and neighboring states have seen repeated attacks on schools and communities despite ongoing military operations, raising concerns about security gaps in rural areas. The community of Mussa lies near the Sambisa Forest, a longstanding stronghold of rebel fighters.
In a separate incident on Friday, gunmen abducted students at Baptist Nursery and Primary School in the southwestern state of Oyo. The state has ordered school closures while police launched a manhunt for the abductors.
Though violence has waned from the peak of Nigeria's rebellions, analysts have warned of a potential increase in attacks since 2025, especially in rural areas outside government control.
Gimba Kakanda, a Nigerian writer and public servant, told Al Jazeera that the expansion of territory in which these groups operate matters because "insurgencies are sustained not by ideology alone, but by terrain, supply routes, local economies, and the ability to move men and materiel through spaces where the state is weak or absent." He added that "violence in northern Nigeria is sustained by a combination of doctrinal extremism, chronic poverty, educational exclusion, and a state whose presence is often too limited to command confidence."
Source: www.aljazeera.com