More than 300 Nigerian children abducted from school
|
A total of 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted by gunmen during an attack on a Catholic school in Nigeria, updating an earlier tally of 215 schoolchildren.
The attack occurred at St Mary’s School in the north-central state of Niger, the Christian Association of Nigeria says.
The tally was changed “after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out”, according to a statement from the Most Rev Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger state chapter of the association, who visited the school on Friday.
He said 88 other students were also captured after they tried to escape during the attack. The students were both male and female and ranged in age from 10 to 18.
The school kidnapping in the state’s remote Papiri community happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in the neighbouring state of Kebbi’s Maga town, which is 170 kilometres away.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and authorities have said tactical squads have been deployed alongside local hunters to rescue the children.
Yohanna described as false a claim from the state government that the school had reopened for studies despite an earlier directive for schools in that part of Niger state to close temporarily due to security threats.
“We did not receive any circular. It must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame,” he said, calling on families “to remain calm and prayerful”.
School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention.
UNICEF said in 2024 that only 37 per cent of schools across 10 of the conflict-hit states have early warning systems to detect threats.
The kidnappings are happening amid US President Donald Trump’s claims of targeted killings against Christians in the West African country.
Attacks in Nigeria affect both Christians and Muslims. The school attack earlier this week in Kebbi was in a Muslim-majority town.
The attack also took place as Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu was visiting the US where he met Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday.
AP
