29/06/2026
Today gunmen disrupted ongoing NECO examinations at Government Day Secondary School Lassa Askira Uba LGA of Borno state with a horrifying attack in which unspecified number of students were abducted, while two teachers and a student were killed.
Schools should be places of safety, and no child should have to choose between their education and their life. The children abducted are at serious risk of being harmed.
From 2023 to date Amnesty International had documented at least 13 major school abductions. This is unacceptable and says a lot about the incompetence of government at all levels.
The protection of children’s lives is paramount, and the Nigerian government has a duty to ensure that the country’s educational sector is not further threatened by armed groups on rampage across northern Nigeria.
The attack on Government Day Secondary School Lassa is a gross violation of international humanitarian law, and it undermines the right to education for affected children and thousands in other parts of northern Nigeria. The abduction of students by armed groups can severely reduce the availability of and access to education for many children in northern Nigeria where violent attacks are escalating.
What we are witnessing right now in the northern part of Nigeria is an assault on childhood and an utter failure to guarantee the safety and security of school children and teachers. It is not only school children that are unsafe. Hundreds of towns and villages have for many years endured frequent attacks by gunmen.
