Unknown gunmen abducted 215 pupils and 12 teachers from St Mary’s Catholic school in the Papiri community of Agwara local government area, Niger state, in the early hours of Friday, the second major school kidnapping in Nigeria within a week.
Niger state government secretary Abubakar Usman said authorities received the “disturbing news” with deep sadness. The police reported the abductions occurred overnight and said military and security forces were deployed to the area.
Relatives and eyewitnesses described chaos. Dauda Chekula, 62, said four of his grandchildren, aged seven to ten, were taken. He told the Associated Press that those who escaped had scattered, with some fleeing home, and that attackers were believed to be moving the remaining children into nearby bushland.
Niger is the country’s largest state, stretching west from Abuja toward Benin. This is the third recorded mass school abduction in the state in the past decade; in May 2021 gunmen seized 135 students from an Islamic seminary in Niger state, and six of those abducted later died.
Earlier this week, gunmen attacked a girls’ boarding school in neighbouring Kebbi state, abducting 25 pupils and killing the vice-principal. Local reports say security forces had intelligence about a plot and guarded the school overnight but left about 30 minutes before the assault; the governor alleged security personnel spent time photographing students before departing. President Bola Tinubu ordered junior defence minister Bello Matawalle to relocate to Kebbi to assist rescue efforts.
No group has claimed responsibility for the recent kidnappings. Analysts and locals say criminal gangs frequently target schools, travellers and remote communities for ransom. Authorities often describe the attackers as largely former herders who have turned to armed banditry after clashes over resources. Kidnapping-for-ransom is one of several overlapping insecurity crises affecting central and northern Nigeria.
The violence extends beyond kidnappings. The extremist faction Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) claimed responsibility for the killing of a Nigerian general in Borno state this week and circulated footage and messages about a failed rescue attempt. Earlier, gunmen abducted 38 worshippers from a church in Kwara state during a livestreamed service; that incident left at least two dead, and kidnappers reportedly demanded 100 million naira (about £52,662) per person, suggesting a financial motive.
The spate of attacks has also inflamed international scrutiny. Former US president Donald Trump and some US lawmakers have asserted that Christians in Nigeria face persecution, with Trump warning of possible military intervention and the Biden administration having labelled Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over religious freedom issues. US officials describe a complex security landscape in which terrorists, separatists, bandits and militias carry out attacks that often hit Christian communities. The Nigerian government rejects claims of an anti-Christian genocide and says victims come from all faiths.
Amid the crisis, President Tinubu cancelled planned trips to the G20 and AU-EU summits in South Africa and Angola. Nigerian authorities continue search-and-rescue operations as families and communities demand swift action to recover the abducted children and teachers.
