BY ABDULKADIR M. LAWAN, JULY 01, 2026 | 11:46 PM

Anna Ujulu’s hands shook so badly she could not hold her bicycle. One moment she was pedaling to town for salt and soap. The next, a shout tore through the road: 'Terrorists have attacked the school.'

Her heart dropped. 'I rushed back home and couldn’t even ride the bicycle because my body was shivering,' Anna told Lake Chad Times.

'Someone confirmed to me that it was my daughter’s school that the terrorists attacked,' she said.

That daughter is Laraba Anthony, 15. An SS1 student at Government Day Secondary School, Lassa.

On Monday morning, while writing National Examination Council, NECO, examinations, Laraba was among 36 students and three staff abducted by Boko Haram insurgents.

Anna ran to the school immediately. But by then, most students had fled into the bushes for safety. She could not find Laraba.

'I left the school and returned home in serious worry,' she said.

In the evening, some students who had been rescued gave her the answer she dreaded.

'They confirmed to me that my daughter is with the terrorists because they were with her before security forces rescued them.'

Since that moment, Anna says her home has not been the same.

'I can’t believe Laraba was abducted. The house feels empty for me,' she said, wiping tears.

At 15, Laraba was her mother’s right hand.

'She used to help me with house chores like cooking, fetching water, washing plates, farming, among others,' the mother said.

The grief is shared across Lassa. Mr. Hassan’s 19-year-old daughter, Martha, an SS2 student, was also taken. Martha is the first of five children.

'Since the abduction, we can no longer sleep and eat well because we don’t know the situation of our daughters.

'Mothers of the victims are only crying, hoping to see their children freed,' he said.

He described the mood in the village as one of fear and paralysis.

'Even this morning, rumours were going around that the terrorists could attack again. So with this fear, no one from the village went to his farm. Today we couldn’t go to our farm because of fear of possible attack,' Hassan explained.

He lamented that their wives and other children are always crying since the abduction of their children.

Both parents say they have not heard from their daughters or the abductors since Monday.

The uncertainty has left Lassa in what Hassan calls 'a serious situation.'

'We are appealing to the government to rescue our children.

'We are also appealing for more security personnel in the area,' he appealed.

For Anna, the plea is simpler: bring Laraba home.

'We leave everything in the hands of the Almighty God, and we are appealing to the government to rescue our children.

'We are all at home praying for the safe return of our children,' Anna added.

Twenty-five of the 36 missing students are girls.

Their desks in SS1, SS2 and SS3 now sit empty. Their mothers’ kitchens, farms, and homes feel the same.

In Lassa, the NECO exams continue for others at Government Secondary School, Uba.

But for Anna, Hassan, and dozens of families, learning has stopped.

All that remains is waiting, praying, and the echo of an empty house.