More than 30 students are still missing after a school attack in Nigeria | Military Issues

The attacks targeted a secondary school in the northeast of Lassa, Borno state.

At least 37 students are still missing after terrorists stormed their school in the northeast Nigeriaaccording to local officials.

The incident happened on Monday when militants belonging to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked a secondary school in Lassa town, Borno state, which has suffered years of violence by armed groups.

AFP news agency reported on Tuesday that at least 37 students are still missing following the attack, which took place while they were taking exams.

At least three people were killed in the attack, including a soldier and a teacher, according to the military, which earlier said officials had rescued 10 of them and only one was missing.

The “list of students in captivity”, which shows the gender and phone numbers of their parents, was shared with the media by the member of the Ijagla Ijabila local government.

An intel source also revealed the same list to AFP.

Borno Commissioner for Education Lawan Abba Wakilbe told reporters in Lassa that 25 female students, 11 male students and one staff member are being detained, Reuters reports.

Abba Wakilbe added that eight people, including the vice principal of the school, have been released.

Kidnapping people for ransom, especially students, has become a popular tactic for armed groups and “criminal” groups operating across the war-torn north and center.

Although the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in the town of Chibok in 2014 by Boko Haram members remains a well-known fact in Nigeria, school abductions are on the rise across the country.

In May, insurgents kidnapped more than 40 students – who are still in prison – from Mussa village in Borno State.

That same month, armed men gathered many students from three schools in Oyo State – an unusual attack in the south-west of Nigeria, which is known as the safest region in the country.

Nigeria has been struggling with insurgency since 2009, which took place in the northeast.

Although violence has declined since the height of the conflict a decade ago, experts have warned of an escalation since last year.