School girls and teachers of the Girls Science Secondary School located in Dapchi, Yobe State on Monday escaped an attack from the dreaded Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram.

Witnesses say the militants arrived Dapchi town in pick-up trucks, shooting sporadically and setting off explosives to scare residents away. Alerted by the deafening noise, the staff and students of the institution reportedly fled before the attackers got to the school premises.

Residents and civilian militia in the town say they believed the jihadists had planned to kidnap the school girls as they were said to have ransacked and looted the school after finding it deserted.

They added that security forces, backed by military jets repelled the attack of the insurgents who had in April, 2014 audaciously kidnapped more than 200 school girls from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State.

Despite the Nigerian military retaking a swathe of territories from Boko Haram in the north-eastern part of the country, the terrorist group continues to stage attacks targeting both civilians and military establishments and frequently using young girls as suicide bombers.