The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter, said 315 students and teachers were kidnapped by terrorists, who attacked St Mary’s Catholic Church, Papiri, a co-education school in Niger State, Central Nigeria, on the morning of Friday, November 21.
CAN chairman in the state, Reverend Bulus Yohanna, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.
Yohanna had earlier on Friday said 215 students and teachers were abducted, saying, “From our records, 215 pupils and students, including 12 teachers, were abducted by the terrorists.”
But in another statement on Saturday, November 22, the cleric said 315 students and teachers were abducted, noting that the new number came after a verification exercise was conducted.
“The total number of victims abducted … is now 303 students and 12 teachers,” adding that the number of boys and girls kidnapped is almost half of the school’s student population of 629.
Rev Yohanna, who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora diocese under which the school falls, gave the update after visiting the school.
“After we left the school at Papiri, we decided to make calls, do a verification exercise and do further enquiries on those we had thought escaped successfully, only to discover that 88 more students were also captured after they tried to escape,” he said.
“This now makes it 303 students [male and female], including 12 teachers [4 females and 8 males], bringing the total number of abducted persons to 315,” he said in the statement.
The Niger State Police Command also confirmed the incident in a statement by its spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun.
“Some armed bandits invaded St Mary’s Private Catholic Secondary School and abducted a yet to be ascertained number of students from the school’s hostel,” he said.
“Teams have moved to the scene and are combing the forests with a view to rescuing the abducted students,” Abiodun said, though he did not announce the number of the victims.
The incident occurred a few days after armed persons kidnapped 24 students from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in neighbouring Kebbi State. The vice principal of the Kebbi school was killed in that attack.
It also occurred a few days after over 30 worshippers were abducted in the Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, Kwara State, North Central Nigeria.
The resurgence of abductions has forced President Bola Tinubu to cancel his scheduled trip to South Africa to attend the G2O summit. He asked Vice President Kashim Shettima to represent him.
The presidency said in a statement that President Tinubu had to “cancel his departure and delegated Mr Shettima to represent him, as he remains in Nigeria to receive security briefings following the abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi and the attack on worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State.”
The same day, the Nigerian government announced the closure of 47 federal secondary schools, called unity schools.
In Katsina State, another hotspot in the country, the state government announced the closure of all primary and secondary schools in the state, while the Plateau State Government announced the closure of all primary and junior secondary schools in the state.
Pope demands release of abductees
During the Angelus prayer on Sunday, November 23, Pope Leo XIV appealed for the release of over 300 children and teachers abductees.
The Catholic pontiff said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the kidnapping.”
He also lamented the kidnapping of six Catholic priests in Cameroon.
“I feel great pain, above all for the many young men and women who have been abducted and for their distressed families,” he said.
“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”
The pope asked for prayers that “churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope.”
50 students escaped
Meanwhile, Rev Yohanna announced in a statement on Sunday that 50 of the students have escaped from their abductors.
The pupils escaped between Friday and Saturday and have since been reunited with their parents, he said.
About 253 children and 12 staff members were still with the kidnappers, added Yohanna, a Catholic bishop who is also the proprietor of the school.