Some female teenagers have been abducted by members of the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) in the Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.
The Deputy Speaker of the Borno House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdullahi Askira, confirmed the incident on Sunday in Maiduguri.
Askira, who represents Askira-Uba Constituency, said the girls were seized while working on their farms in Mussa District.
He said 13 teenagers, aged between 15 and 20, had gone to harvest crops in the Mussa farming area when the attackers abducted them.
According to him, Huyim and Mussa are farming communities in Askira-Uba, but residents of Huyim were recently relocated to Mussa due to security concerns.
“The victims are among those relocated to a relatively peaceful community of Mussa to earn their livelihoods through joint community farming,” he said.
Askira disclosed that one of the girls managed to escape and was reunited with her family on Sunday.
“But the other 12 victims, mostly teenagers, are still in the custody of the abductors whose whereabouts remain unknown,” he added.
Also reacting, the Senator representing Borno South, Mohammed Ali Ndume, urged security agencies to intensify efforts to ensure the safe rescue of the remaining victims.
He appealed to residents of the affected communities to continue to pray for the safe return of the girls and to provide useful information to security agencies on suspicious movements in the area.
