More than a week after gunmen kidnapped dozens of
students from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri,
in Niger State, 265 teachers and children remain unaccounted for, the
Catholic Bishop of Kontagora, Bulus Yohanna, revealed on Friday.
Bishop Yohanna said the missing individuals comprise 12
teachers and 253 students. The diocese has submitted the list of hostages
to Niger State Governor Umar Bago.
“We had 303 pupils and students missing and 12
teachers also not seen. Including staff and teachers who could not be accounted
for, we initially had 315. After 50 people were reunited with their families,
265 remain missing as of now,”
he stated.
Appeal for Federal Intervention
Bishop Yohanna, who also chairs the Niger State
chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), urged the Federal
Government to deploy security operatives to protect schools in the
North-Central region.
He described the abduction as a major source of
trauma for parents, noting that two parents have died from shock
since the incident.
“We call on the federal and state governments to act
swiftly to secure the release of the students and teachers still in captivity,”
he added.
Context of the Abductions
The gunmen seized over 300 children from the
Catholic institution, many of whom are of nursery-school age, while at
least 50 managed to escape. This incident comes amid a resurgence of
mass kidnappings in Nigeria, including:
President Bola Tinubu has declared a national
security emergency and ordered a manhunt for the perpetrators,
promising the safe return of all captives.
Historical Perspective
Nigeria has faced a persistent kidnapping crisis,
particularly in rural areas vulnerable to poorly policed criminal gangs. The
first high-profile case was the Chibok schoolgirls abduction in 2014,
where 276 girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram; over 90 remain missing
more than a decade later.
US President Donald Trump recently threatened
military intervention over what he described as the targeted killing of
Christians in Nigeria, a claim rejected by the Federal Government.
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