Abuja, May 16 (SANA) At least 42 students are missing after armed militants attacked a school and its surroundings in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria on Friday, a Nigerian senator announced Saturday.
Senator Ali Ndume said in a statement quoted by Reuters that 32 students were abducted from the Musa Primary and Secondary School in the Askira-Uba district during school hours, while 10 others were taken from nearby homes. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The incident comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu announced earlier Saturday the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the second-ranking figure in the ISIS terror organization, in a joint military operation in Borno State in the early morning hours.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has been fighting armed militant groups for 17 years, chiefly Boko Haram and ISIS-affiliated splinter faction. Large swaths of the northeastern countryside remain outside full government control.
KhA
