Nigeria’s security challenges escalated over the weekend after terrorists abducted 42 schoolchildren in Borno State.

This comes after Nigerian and United States forces announced the killing of Islamic State commander Abu-Bilal al-Minuki in a joint operation near the Lake Chad region.

The abduction came hours after the military revealed details of the counter-terrorism mission that eliminated al-Minuki, described by US authorities as the global second-in-command of the Islamic State and a key ISWAP commander in the Lake Chad Basin and wider Sahel.

Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, confirmed that Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters stormed Primary and Junior Government Day Secondary School (GDSS), Mussa, in Askira-Uba Local Government Area during early Friday lessons. Some children were also taken from nearby homes.

School records indicate that four secondary school students, including two boys and two girls, were kidnapped, alongside 28 primary school pupils. An additional 10 children were abducted from residential homes, bringing the total number of victims to 42.

Ndume condemned the attack as “barbaric, traumatic and heartbreaking,” calling on troops of the Joint Task Force North-East, Operation Hadin Kai, and other security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue the children. He also noted a resurgence of attacks across southern Borno, citing recent assaults in Bambatsu and Ngadarma, Chibok, where several residents, including the elderly, were killed.

The latest abduction has reopened painful memories of past mass kidnappings by Boko Haram, notably the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, highlighting the ongoing vulnerability of educational institutions in remote communities along forest corridors and border areas linking Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.

Meanwhile, the military described the operation against al-Minuki as one of the most significant counter-terrorism successes in the North-East in recent years. The operation began at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday and concluded around 4 a.m., combining coordinated air and ground assaults on insurgent strongholds in Metele, Borno State.