More than 300 children and staff have been abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria in a recent incident. Gunmen kidnapped 303 students and 12 teachers from St Mary’s School in central Nigeria, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria. Initially reported as 215 pupils taken, revised figures now indicate that nearly half of the school’s student body has been abducted. The abduction is part of a series of attacks by armed groups, locally known as bandits, who have a history of kidnapping for ransom.
The abduction took place when armed men broke into the boarding school around 02:00 local time on Friday, taking both students and staff. Local police are actively searching the forests to rescue the kidnapped students. Authorities in Niger state have indicated that the school disregarded warnings to close its boarding facilities due to heightened security risks, putting the students and staff in unnecessary danger. The school has not responded to these allegations.
The number of abducted students in this incident exceeds the infamous Chibok mass kidnapping of 2014, which garnered global attention and sparked a campaign, supported by former US First Lady Michelle Obama, to secure the return of the 276 girls. This incident follows a series of recent school attacks in Nigeria.
In a separate incident, over 20 schoolgirls, reportedly Muslim, were abducted from a boarding school in Kebbi state, while a church in Kwara state was attacked resulting in two deaths and 38 kidnappings. The central government of Nigeria has ordered the closure of more than 40 federal colleges in response to these incidents.