The Borno State Government has confirmed receiving a proof-of-life video of 36 students abducted from Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, in Askira/Uba Local Government Area, as efforts to secure their release continue. The confirmation was made on Saturday during the Borno State Education Summit in Maiduguri, where the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abba Wakilbe, played the 15-second video during a slide presentation. The summit, themed:“Strengthening Safe, Inclusive and Gender-Responsive Education: Building Back Better,” was organised in partnership with the Malala Fund. Wakilbe said the students were abducted on June 29 and assured participants that the state government was working to ensure their safe return. “Since the Chibok abduction, we have not had such an issue. Not until recently did we have the issue in Mussa and subsequently in Lassa,” he said. According to the commissioner, 36 students remain in captivity, comprising 25 girls and 11 boys. He added that the government was yet to receive any information on students abducted from Mussa Community. Describing attacks on schools as a major setback to education in the state, Wakilbe warned that continued insecurity could undermine progress recorded in rebuilding the sector. “If this does not stop, progress will not happen, and a lot of what we have achieved will be reversed,” he said. He appealed to residents and development partners to continue supporting government efforts to protect schools and improve access to education. Although officials declined to release the proof-of-life footage, it reportedly showed the abducted students seated on the ground, with some wearing the uniform of Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, while two armed terrorists stood behind them holding a flag bearing Arabic inscriptions. The students are among victims of recent attacks on schools in Borno State. Reports indicate that 78 students remain in captivity following separate school abductions in the state.
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