Nigeria has been hit by another mass abduction after armed men raided St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, seizing an unknown number of pupils and staff in the early hours of Friday. It marks the second major school kidnapping this week as security fears rise across the country.
Local residents fear that up to 100 people may have been taken, though authorities have not confirmed the figure. Niger State officials revealed that the boarding school had reopened despite a government directive ordering all such institutions to remain shut after intelligence reports warned of possible attacks.
“Unfortunately, St Mary’s resumed academic activities without notifying the state government, putting children and staff at avoidable risk,” the state said in a statement.
Police reported that heavily armed men — widely referred to as bandits — stormed the hostel at around 02:00 local time, leading to widespread panic among families. Search teams and security forces are currently combing surrounding forests in a bid to rescue the abductees.
Residents remain shaken. “Everybody is weak… it took us all by surprise,” said local parent Dominic Adamu, whose daughters attend the school but escaped the attack. Another tearful woman told the BBC that her nieces, aged six and 13, were taken and pleaded, “I just want them to come home.”
The abduction follows Monday’s kidnapping of more than 20 Muslim schoolgirls from a boarding school in nearby Kebbi State. In addition, a church attack in Kwara State this week left two people dead and 38 kidnapped during a livestreamed service.
President Bola Tinubu has cancelled several international engagements — including attending the G20 summit in South Africa — to deal with the escalating crisis.
The surge in violence comes as former US President Donald Trump has claimed Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, assertions strongly rejected by the Nigerian government. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has urged Nigeria to act swiftly to protect Christian communities, though Nigerian authorities insist extremist groups attack people of all faiths who oppose their ideology.
Nigeria continues to grapple with layered security problems — including ransom kidnappings by criminal gangs in the northwest and jihadist insurgencies in the northeast. Analysts point out that while clashes in central regions often involve Muslim herders and Christian farmers, many of these confrontations stem from competition over land and water, not religious affiliation.
Local reports say kidnappers in the Kwara church attack have already demanded ransom, even though the payment of ransom is outlawed. Meanwhile, in Kebbi State, two of the girls taken earlier this week managed to escape, but 23 remain missing.