The Christian Association of Nigeria reported that gunmen captured 303 pupils and 12 teachers during a raid on St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in the northern part of Niger State, Nigeria. This updated count supersedes the earlier figure of 215 children.
According to a statement issued by the Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, the chairman of the Niger State chapter of CAN, the figure change resulted from “after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out,” when he visited the school on Friday.
Yohanna added that an additional 88 students had been taken after they tried to flee; these students were also detained during the attack.
The kidnapped children were both boys and girls, ranging in age from 10 to 18.
This incident took place in Papiri, a remote community in Niger State, just four days after a similar assault that seized 25 pupils in Maga, a town in neighboring Kebbi State located roughly 170 kilometers (106 miles) away.
No organization has so far claimed responsibility, but military forces and local hunters have been mobilised in a joint effort to rescue the abducted children.
Yohanna dismissed a claim from the state government that the school had reopened, stating that such a notice had never been issued. “We did not receive any circular. It must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame,” he said, urging parents to stay calm and pray.
Kidnappings of schoolchildren have become a hallmark of insecurity in the world’s most populous country, with armed groups often targeting schools to attract attention. UNICEF noted last year that only 37 % of schools in ten conflict‑affected states had early warning systems in place.
These abductions occur against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s allegations of targeted killings against Christians in West Africa. In Nigeria, attacks affect both Christian and Muslim communities, as the earlier incident in Kebbi State unfolded in a predominantly Muslim town.
The incident also unfolded while Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu was in the United States, where he met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday.
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