Fifty of the 315 children abducted from a Catholic school in Niger State, Nigeria, have escaped, officials have confirmed. The pupils were among hundreds kidnapped by armed men who stormed St Mary’s School in Papiri during the early hours of Friday.
According to the Christian Association of Nigeria, the escaped pupils have been reunited with their families, while a major military-led operation is ongoing to locate and rescue the remaining 265 children and 12 teachers.
Authorities said the gunmen arrived at the school around 02:00 local time (01:00 GMT), taking hundreds of pupils and staff hostage. The raid is one of the largest school abductions in Nigeria since the 2014 Chibok attack.
Following the mass abduction, several states including Niger, Kebbi, Katsina, Yobe and Kwara ordered the closure of schools. The move came as another group of 20 pupils were kidnapped from a boarding school in Kebbi State on Monday.
In response, President Bola Tinubu announced the recruitment of 30,000 additional police officers and the redeployment of those in VIP protection services to security duties in vulnerable areas. “This is not a time for blame,” Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bongo said, urging communities to cooperate with security forces.
Pope Leo XIV expressed “immense sadness” over the kidnapping and called for the swift release of all hostages.
A Christian group involved in the case said the pupils managed to escape between Friday and Saturday in a daring bid for freedom. Authorities are searching nearby forests and remote roads believed to have been used by the attackers.
Officials allege that St Mary’s had ignored warnings to suspend boarding operations due to intelligence reports of an impending attack, though the school has not commented.
Elsewhere, 38 people kidnapped from a church service in Kwara State were freed on Sunday. Two worshippers were killed in that attack.
Kidnappings by armed gangs, known locally as “bandits”, have surged in recent years, often targeting schools for ransom. Although paying ransoms is now illegal under Nigerian law, the measure has done little to deter such crimes.