A TOTAL of 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted by gunmen during an attack on St Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state, the Christian Association of Nigeria said Saturday, updating an earlier tally of 215 schoolchildren. The tally was changed “after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out,” according to a statement issued by the Most Rev Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN, 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 Niger state’s remote Papiri community happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighbouring Kebbi state’s Maga town, which is 170 km 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 forschoolsin thatpart of Niger state to close temporarilydue tosecurity threats.

 

“We did not receive any circular. Itmustbeanafterthought 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’smost populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as“strategic” targets to draw more attention. UNICEF said last year that only 37% of schools across 10 of the conflict-hit states have earlywarningsystems todetect threats. The kidnappings are happening amid US President Donald Trump’s claims of targetedkillingsagainstChristians in the West African country. Attacks in Nigeria affect both Christians and Muslims. The school attack earlier this week inKebbi statewasinaMuslimmajority town. The attack also took place as Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu was visiting the US where he met DefenceSecretaryPeteHegseth on Friday