The Public Relations Officer, Borno State Command, Nahum Daso, on Tuesday, said gunmen responsible for the abduction of students sitting for the National Examinations Council (NECO) exams in Lassa Community in Borno State, had disguised themselves as retailers on the market day before invading the community to abduct the students.

While appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Show, he gave more insight into how the abductors were able to successfully gain access into the school to whisk away the students.

“Yesterday’s event that happened in Borno is quite an unfortunate incident, which had really generated concerns, more so because the victims are students.

“What happened was that at the very early hours of Monday, a large number of gunmen invaded the Lassa community. Yesterday was the market day of the community, and they disguised themselves and concealed their weapons, snuck into the town and started shooting sporadically into the air.”

He explained that the incident led to the death of one teacher, with another sustaining a gunshot wound.

According to him, although the military has been able to rescue 10 of the abductees, some of the students are currently missing.

“The incident led to the death of a teacher, and one other teacher was shot.

“We got a report that some students panicked and went missing during the incident.

“But the troops HADEN KAI coordinating the military operations here in Borno State were able to go into the forest and comb the place.

“They were able to rescue about 10 victims.”

He noted that the number of abducted students was yet to be determined.

“From the fillers, we don’t have the specific number of how many students were abducted because some students fled to neighbouring communities.

“We hope to get more information today and feed the public. We are yet to reconcile the numbers with the school and parents. We are confident that 10 of them have been rescued so far.

“Borno’s commissioner of education is moving to the scene and has a headcount to see how many of the students were abducted.”

The update followed a statement by the Captain, Acting Military Information Officer, Headquarters Joint Task Force North East Operation HADIN KAI, Maiduguri, Mohammed Goni, revealing that 10 students had been rescued.

According to a statement released by the Nigerian Army, the incident, which occurred in the Askira Uba Local Government Area of the state, at about 0900 hours (9:00 a.m.) on Monday, 29 June 2026, targeted the Technical Secondary School while the students were writing exams.

“Theatre Command scrambled both strike and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircrafts from the Air Component of OPHK to support troops mobilised to the area for a coordinated search and rescue operation.

“The troops, with support from the air platforms overhead providing guidance, made contact around DAGGU and after the firefight, the operation has so far resulted in the successful rescue of ten victims, who were unhurt and are currently receiving the necessary care and support, while efforts remain ongoing to rescue the remaining victim and bring the perpetrators to justice.” (Channels)

Update news