MAIDUGURI, Nigeria: Thirty-seven students were missing after jihadists raided their school where they were writing final exams on Monday, according to a list shared by a Nigerian local government official on Tuesday.
The attack occurred Monday morning when assailants from Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stormed a secondary school in the town of Lassa, in Askira Uba district, killing three people including a soldier and a teacher, according to the military, who initially said authorities had rescued 10 of them and that only one was missing.
The “list of students in captivity,” showing the students’ gender and their parents mobile phone number was shared to journalists by area’s local government councillor, Ijagla Ijabila.
An intel source also showed AFP the same list.
Kidnapping for ransom, especially of students, has become a common tactic for both jihadists and non-ideological “bandit” gangs across the conflict-hit north and center of the country.
