After Boko Haram Attack, 50 To 90 School Girls Purportedly Abducted

After the Islamist extremist terrorist group Boko Haram attacked a village in Nigeria, more than 90 schoolgirls appear to be missing, according to Reuters. Other parents speaking to the BBC set the number at more than 50.

Families and local witnesses speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity said that 91 girls appeared missing Tuesday, and were feared abducted. Boko Haram attacked the village, Dapchi, in Northern Nigeria Monday night.

“I hope my daughter is not one of those abducted as we learned that over 90 of them were not seen after going through their register book,” said a parent to Reuters.

Officials are saying that there were only three abductions, and none of them were girls.

“They fired shots and left the town toward Gaidam... in the night, where they abducted three people,” said Police Commissioner Sumonu Abdulmaliki to reporters Tuesday.

Boko Haram members reportedly arrived in the village by truck and sporadically fired their weapons as people fled. A regional education ministry had shut the school down for a week, following the attack. Security forces are combing the area, looking for the missing girls.

Boko Haram’s insurgency in the country began in 2009. In 2014 a group of Boko Haram terrorists abducted 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok. More than 100 of the girls have been reunited with their families, but the remaining group is feared to still be in captivity.

A spokesperson from the State Department said that the U.S. can't confirm the disappearances, but is in contact with the Nigerian government

This story was updated to include comment from the State Department.