Fifty schoolchildren have escaped captivity after last week’s mass abduction at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed on Sunday.
The attack occurred in the early hours of Friday, 21 November, when gunmen stormed the co-educational boarding school, abducting 303 students and 12 teachers. The victims, aged 8 to 18, accounted for nearly half of the school’s 629 pupils. The escapes, which took place between Friday and Saturday, offer a glimmer of hope for families anxiously awaiting news of the remaining hostages.
“This is welcome news, but we urge continued prayers for the safe return of those still in captivity,” said Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, CAN chairman in Niger State and Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese.
The incident follows a similar attack earlier on 17 November, when 25 girls were abducted from a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi State. A church in Kwara State was also targeted in recent days, leaving two dead and 38 people kidnapped, prompting widespread concern and the closure of schools across northern Nigeria.
Police say the attackers struck around 2:00 a.m., targeting boarding students. Security forces are combing nearby forests in search of the remaining victims. Niger State authorities ordered the closure of all schools as a precaution, noting that the institution had continued boarding operations despite prior intelligence warnings.
In response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has postponed foreign trips, including the G20 summit in South Africa, to address the escalating security challenges. The federal government maintains that ransom payments are banned and emphasizes that terrorism targets all who reject extremist violence, regardless of religion.
Pope Leo XIV expressed “deep sorrow” over the abductions and called for the immediate release of the hostages. The attacks evoke memories of the 2014 Chibok kidnapping, where 276 schoolgirls were seized by Boko Haram, highlighting the ongoing challenges Nigeria faces from armed banditry in central and northern regions, alongside insurgency in the northeast, which has claimed over 40,000 lives and displaced around two million people since 2019.
