Boko Haram Faction Kidnaps 13 Girls in Nigeria’s Borno State, Residents Flee Homes
One girl escapes to provide authorities with crucial information while families flee to nearby safer towns
- ISWAP abducts 13 teenage girls in Borno’s Mussa district; one escapes, 12 remain missing
- Families flee homes, highlighting the vulnerability of rural communities to armed attacks
- President Tinubu redirects police to frontline security and approves 30,000 new recruits to bolster safety
Residents of Mussa district in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State are fleeing their homes after fighters from Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram faction, abducted 13 teenage girls from farmland on Sunday.
Local sources report the girls, aged 15 to 20, were harvesting crops when armed gunmen stormed the fields. One of the teenagers escaped and has been reunited with her family, but the 12 others remain missing, sparking fear and a mass exodus from the area.
The abduction has heightened anxiety in a community already traumatized by the recent killing of five local vigilantes. Many families are relocating to nearby towns considered safer, highlighting the vulnerability of rural farming communities to armed attacks.
Abdullahi Askira, Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, confirmed the kidnappings and urged residents to share information about suspicious activity with security forces.
According to Junaid Jibrin, media aide to Senator Ali Ndume, the escaped girl is helping authorities reconstruct the events of the attack. “She is assisting officials and family members with vital information about what happened,” he said.
In response to escalating insecurity, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered police officers withdrawn from VIP protection duties to bolster frontline security. Bayo Onanuga, the president’s adviser on information and strategy, confirmed that VIP security will now be handled by well-armed units from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, while 30,000 additional police officers will be recruited and training facilities upgraded.
The incident underscores ongoing security challenges in northeastern Nigeria, as communities continue to face threats from armed groups.
