The number of children abducted during the armed attack on St. Mary’s School in north-central Nigeria has risen to more than 300, the Christian Association of Nigeria said Saturday, significantly increasing an earlier total released after the incident.
Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN, said that 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were taken when gunmen raided the Catholic boarding school in Papiri community. The update came after what he described as a verification process and final census conducted during his visit on Friday. He said 88 of the abducted students were captured as they attempted to flee, and that the children taken range in age from 10 to 18 and include both boys and girls.
The mass abduction occurred four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in a similar attack in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga town, roughly 170 kilometers away. No group has claimed responsibility for either assault, but authorities say tactical units and local hunters have been deployed in hopes of locating and rescuing the captives.
Yohanna rejected a claim by the Niger state government that the school had reopened despite an earlier directive ordering institutions in the area to close temporarily due to heightened security threats. He said there was no evidence the school received such an instruction before the attack and described the government’s assertion as an attempt to shift blame. He urged families to remain calm and continue praying for the students’ safe return.
School kidnappings have become a defining feature of Nigeria’s worsening security crisis, with armed gangs increasingly targeting educational institutions to draw attention and secure ransom payments. UNICEF reported last year that only 37% of schools across 10 conflict-affected states have any form of early warning system to detect threats.
The latest abductions come against the backdrop of comments by U.S. President Donald Trump alleging targeted killings of Christians in Nigeria, a claim the government has denied. Analysts note that both Christians and Muslims are frequently targeted in the northern and central regions where armed groups operate. The school attack earlier in the week in Kebbi state took place in a predominantly Muslim town.
The assault on St. Mary’s School coincided with a visit by Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu to the United States, where he met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday as Nigeria’s government faces renewed pressure to curb mass kidnappings.
