More than 90 schoolgirls 'missing'

More than 90 Nigerian schoolgirls are feared missing after Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram attacked a village in the northeastern state of Yobe, two sources told Reuters yesterday.

Their disappearance, if confirmed, would be one of the largest since Boko Haram abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014. That case drew global attention to the nine-year insurgency, which has sparked what the United Nations has called one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

A roll-call at the girls' school on Tuesday showed that 91 students were absent, said the two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

"I saw girls crying and wailing in three Tata vehicles and they were crying for help," said a witness from the nearby village of Gumsa who was reportedly forced to show the insurgents the way out of the area and then released.

Reuters was unable to verify the witness's account that Boko Haram had abducted girls in the attack on Dapchi on Monday evening. Nigerian police and the regional education ministry denied any abductions had taken place.

The two sources, several parents and other local witnesses who spoke to Reuters did so on condition of anonymity because they had been warned by Nigerian security and government officials not to disclose the disappearance.

The Boko Haram militants arrived in Dapchi on Monday evening in trucks, some mounted with heavy guns and painted in military camouflage, witnesses told Reuters. The insurgents went directly to the school, shooting sporadically, sending students and teachers fleeing, the witnesses said, adding that some people had returned to Dapchi after spending the night hiding in the bush.

Nigerian security forces have begun a search and rescue mission, two people said.