CAN Niger Refutes N3 Billion Ransom Claim in St. Mary’s School Kidnapping, Confirms 315 Abductees

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State Chapter, has dismissed reports that kidnappers of 315 students and staff of St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwarra Local Government Area, demanded ?3 billion for their release.

Chairman of CAN Niger State, Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, clarified on Saturday that the gunmen had not contacted anyone since the abduction.

“You know social media. If you go there, they will mislead you. Even some of the things that are flying around… that’s why we usually make official statements. I am not aware. No contact yet,” Bishop Bulus said.

Updated Abduction Figures:
CAN provided an updated breakdown, confirming 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted, totaling 315 victims. The number increased after a verification exercise revealed that 88 students who had initially escaped were later captured.

Bishop Bulus stated, “After we left the school at Papiri, we conducted calls, verification exercises, and further inquiries on those we had thought escaped successfully, only to discover that 88 more students were also captured after they tried to escape. This now makes it 303 students (male and female), including 12 teachers (4 females and 8 males), bringing the total number of abducted persons to 315.”

Before the incident, the school had a total of 629 pupils and students, with 430 in primary school and 199 in secondary school.

Refuting Prior Warning Claims:
The Bishop also addressed circulating claims that the school had received prior intelligence or government warnings about the attack. He described these reports as false and a potential attempt to shift blame.

“I have just returned to the village after visiting the school and meeting parents. We are working with the government and security agencies to see that our children are rescued safely, but we were met with what I term ‘propaganda’ that the school was given a prior warning. That is not true; we did not receive any circular. It must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame,” he said.

Federal Response:
Amid rising security concerns, the Federal Government has ordered the immediate closure of 41 Federal Unity Colleges across the country. The directive, issued on November 21, 2025, by the Federal Ministry of Education and approved by Education Minister Tunji Alausa, cited “recent security challenges” as the reason for the shutdown. Principals of the affected schools were instructed to enforce the closure immediately. The schools impacted are located in the North-West, North-East, North-Central, and parts of the South.