Nigeria: Fifty of the 315 children kidnapped from a Catholic boarding school in Nigeria’s Niger State have escaped, bringing a moment of relief in a country shaken by a new wave of mass abductions.
The children, taken from St Mary’s School in Papiri during an early morning attack on Friday, were reunited with their families after a daring and risky escape attempt between Friday and Saturday.
A major military-led search is now underway for the remaining 253 students and 12 teachers still held captive. Armed men stormed the school around 02:00 local time, seizing the children from their dormitories and forcing them into nearby forests.
Local officials later revealed the school had ignored an earlier directive to close its boarding facilities due to intelligence warnings of potential attacks. The scale of the abduction surpasses the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, which drew global attention and remains one of Nigeria’s darkest moments. The Christian Association of
Nigeria confirmed the escapees are now safe, but families of those still missing remain desperate for news. Many parents have described the ordeal as unbearable, with one mother saying she only wants her young nieces to return home.
The Nigerian military, police, and community vigilantes are sweeping forests, remote paths, and suspected hideouts. Similar attacks this week have triggered widespread closures of schools in Niger, Kebbi, Katsina, Yobe, and Kwara states. In Kebbi, more than 20 schoolgirls were kidnapped on Monday, prompting authorities to shut all secondary schools and colleges. In another incident, 38 people abducted from a church service in Kwara state last week were freed on Sunday, though two worshippers were killed during the initial attack.
President Bola Tinubu has postponed foreign travel, including a planned visit to the G20 summit in South Africa, to focus on the escalating security crisis. Kidnapping for ransom, driven by heavily armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits, has become a major threat across northern and central Nigeria. Despite a ban on ransom payments, the practice continues to fuel violence.
International debate has also intensified after political figures in the United States claimed Christians were being targeted in Nigeria. Nigerian officials have rejected these allegations, stressing that armed groups attack anyone who opposes them, regardless of religion. Analysts say conflicts over land and resources often contribute to violence between herders and farmers, complicating the narrative.
As rescue efforts continue, the country is once again confronting the trauma of mass abductions, nearly a decade after the Chibok girls were taken. Many of those girls have since returned, but around 100 remain missing. The families now waiting in Niger State face the same agonising uncertainty, hoping that their children will be found alive and brought home.
