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A total of 303 school children and 12 teachers were reportedly kidnapped by armed groups during an attack on Friday (21/11) at St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State,
Nigeria
north-central.
The incident was revealed by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), as security concerns rise in Africa’s most populous country.
As reported
Al Jazeera
, the number of students kidnapped is an update from the initial calculation which only mentioned 215 school children.
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The numbers were changed after “verification and final census was carried out,” according to a statement issued by Most Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, Chairman of the Niger State chapter of CAN, who visited the school on Saturday (22/11).
This attack came just days after an armed group stormed a secondary school in northwestern Nigeria, kidnapping 25 schoolgirls in similar circumstances in the town of Maga, Kebbi State, on Monday (17/11) morning local time.One female student later managed to escape, and 24 others are still missing.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for these two mass kidnapping incidents.Nigerian authorities confirmed that tactical troops had been deployed alongside local hunting teams to try to rescue the children.
St Mary’s School is classified as a secondary school, but satellite imagery shows the school complex is connected to an adjacent primary school.
The complex has more than 50 buildings, including classrooms and dormitories, and is located in Papiri town, near the main road connecting the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa.
Local residents described scenes of panic as families searched for their missing children.Dauda Chekula (62) said his four grandchildren, aged seven to 10 years, were also taken.
“We don’t know what’s happening now, because we haven’t heard anything since this morning,” he told the news agency
The Associated Press.
“The children who managed to escape have scattered… and the only information we have is that the attackers are still moving to take the remaining children into the bushes,” he continued.
Intelligence Alert and Government Reaction
A statement from the Secretary to the Niger State Government on Friday (21/11) said that authorities had previously received intelligence warnings about increased threats in the area.
The statement said schools reopened “without notifying or seeking permission from the State Government, thereby exposing pupils and staff to avoidable risks.”
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has canceled his planned trip to the G20 Summit in South Africa following this kidnapping incident.Vice President Kashim Shettima will attend the summit in his place, Nigeria’s presidential office said on the X platform.
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