Fifty of the more than 300 students abducted by gunmen from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, have escaped and reunited with their families, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) announced Sunday.
The mass kidnapping occurred on Friday, 21 November, when armed men stormed the co-educational school, taking 303 children and 12 teachers. The victims, aged 8 to 18, represent nearly half of the school’s total enrollment of 629 pupils. According to CAN, the escapes occurred between Friday and Saturday, offering a small measure of relief to families still awaiting news of the remaining students.
“This is welcome news, but we urge continued prayers for the safe rescue of those still in captivity,” said Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, CAN chairman in Niger State and Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese.
The raid follows a similar attack on Monday, 17 November, when 25 girls were abducted from a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi State. A church attack in Kwara State left two dead and 38 others kidnapped, heightening nationwide security concerns and prompting mass school closures in the northern states.
Police reports indicate the attackers struck around 2:00 a.m. local time, targeting students staying in the school’s boarding facilities. Security forces are combing surrounding forests in an effort to locate and rescue the remaining hostages. Authorities have closed all schools in Niger State as a precaution, noting that the institution had continued boarding operations despite prior intelligence warnings.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has postponed foreign trips, including his attendance at the G20 summit in South Africa, to address the escalating security challenges. The federal government maintains that ransom payments are banned and insists that terrorism targets all who reject extremist violence, regardless of faith, although some international observers have framed recent attacks as part of broader assaults against Christians.
Pope Leo XIV also weighed in Sunday, expressing “deep sorrow” for the abducted children and their families and appealing for the immediate release of all hostages.
The incidents echo the 2014 Chibok abduction, in which 276 schoolgirls were taken by Boko Haram, drawing global attention. Despite some escapes and releases, roughly 100 victims remain missing. Nigeria continues to grapple with the dual threats of armed banditry in central and northern states and Islamist insurgency in the northeast, which has claimed over 40,000 lives and displaced around two million people since 2019.