In a deeply disturbing incident, students and teachers of St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, were abducted by terrorists in the early hours of Friday morning. The attack, described as a coordinated operation, occurred between 2 am and 3 am, with multiple community sources confirming the invasion of the private Catholic secondary school. The Head of Disaster and Relief for Agwara Local Government, Ahmed Abdullahi Rofia, and Bello Gidi, media aide to the Agwara Local Government Chairman, both corroborated the incident, with Gidi initially reporting that over 100 students and teachers had been kidnapped. During the raid, a security guard was also shot and seriously injured.

The initial reports of victim numbers quickly escalated following further verification. While the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) initially stated 215 pupils and students along with 12 teachers were taken, a detailed census by school authorities revealed a higher toll. According to Most Rev. Bulus Yohanna, CAN chairman in Niger State, 88 additional students, who were initially presumed safe, were discovered to have been captured while attempting to flee. This raised the total number of abducted individuals to 315, comprising 303 students and 12 teachers (four women and eight men). St. Mary’s Catholic School has a total enrolment of 629 students, with 430 in the primary section and 199 in the secondary.

The Niger State government acknowledged the kidnapping but controversially placed partial blame on the school, claiming it resumed academic activities without government clearance despite prior intelligence of a security risk. However, Bishop Yohanna of CAN vehemently refuted this, stating that neither the school management nor the National Association of Private Schools received any formal or informal warnings from the government or security agencies regarding potential threats. He described such claims as an attempt to shift blame.

Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo (SAN), the United Nations Special Envoy to Sudan and Executive Director of Women Aid Collective (WACOL), strongly condemned the abduction. In a statement, she expressed that Nigerians are “deeply hurt” not only by the recurring attacks on schools but also by the