More than 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic School in the remote village of Papiri, in Niger State, during a nighttime assault by armed men.
The updated figures were released today by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), after an earlier count estimated around 215 abductees.
According to CAN, a renewed headcount revealed the true scale of the attack. The victims—boys and girls aged 10 to 18—were taken after gunmen stormed the school compound between Thursday and Friday, operated for nearly two hours, rounded up students and staff, loaded them onto vehicles, and fled into the countryside. Some children attempted to escape but were recaptured.
This is the second school kidnapping in the region within a week. Four days earlier, 25 female students were abducted from a girls’ high school in Kebbi State, where the deputy principal was killed resisting the assault. At the same time, gunmen attacked a church in Kwara State and kidnapped 38 worshippers, demanding enormous ransoms.
