Borno State officials confirm they have received a 15-second proof-of-life video showing students abducted from Government Day Secondary School in Lassa, in Askira/Uba Local Government Area. The video is presented publicly by the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abba Wakilbe, during a slide presentation at the Borno State Education Summit in Maiduguri. The summit, themed “Strengthening Safe, Inclusive and Gender-Responsive Education: Building Back Better,” is held in partnership with the Malala Fund.
According to Wakilbe, the students were kidnapped on June 29. He says the government is actively working to secure the students’ release. He also provides context on other recent school kidnappings in the state, stating that from the Lassa abduction there are 36 students in captivity, including 25 girls and 11 boys, and that authorities have no information on students abducted earlier from the Mussa community. The officials frame attacks on schools as a continuing threat to education in Borno and call for support from residents and development partners to protect schools.
Officials decline to release the full video beyond the short clip shown at the summit.
