Nigeria’s deepening security crisis assumed fresh urgency at the weekend after terrorists reportedly abducted 42 schoolchildren in Borno State, even as the Nigerian military, working alongside United States forces, announced the killing of a top Islamic State commander, Abu Bilal al-Minuki, during a coordinated overnight operation around the Lake Chad region.
Similar strikes were carried out against terrorists in Sokoto by US forces in conjunction with the Nigerian military on December 25, 2025.
The latest incidents have once again brought the country’s fragile security situation into sharp focus, with security experts warning that extremist groups may launch retaliatory attacks following the killing of the ISIS leader. Former President Goodluck Jonathan also lamented that Nigerians had gradually become desensitised to killings and violence across the country.
42 students reportedly abducted
The reported abduction in Borno came barely hours after the military disclosed details of the joint Nigeria-United States counter-terrorism operation that reportedly eliminated al-Minuki, described by American authorities as the global second-in-command of the Islamic State terrorist organisation and one of the most influential ISWAP commanders operating within the Lake Chad Basin and the wider Sahel region.
Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, confirmed that no fewer than 42 students and children were abducted after Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists attacked Primary and Junior Government Day Secondary School, GDSS, Mussa, in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.
The lawmaker said the attackers stormed the schools during early morning lessons on Friday, whisking away pupils and students, while some other children were abducted from nearby homes.
According to him, information obtained from the school authorities showed that four students — two boys and two girls — were abducted from the secondary school section, while 28 pupils were taken from the primary section. Another 10 children were reportedly kidnapped from residential homes within the community, bringing the total number of abducted persons to 42.
Ndume described the incident as barbaric, traumatic and heartbreaking, noting that it had thrown families and residents into despair.
The senator, a former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, appealed to troops of the Joint Task Force North-East, Operation Hadin Kai, and other security agencies to intensify rescue efforts and ensure the safe return of the victims.
He also lamented the resurgence of attacks across Southern Borno communities, particularly recent assaults on Bambatsu and Ngadarma communities in the Chibok area, where several residents, including elderly persons, were reportedly killed.
For residents of Borno and neighbouring communities around the Lake Chad axis, the latest abduction revives painful memories of previous mass kidnappings carried out by Boko Haram insurgents over the last decade, including the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014 and subsequent attacks on schools across the North-East.
