Pope Leo XIV called on Sunday for the release of over 300 hostages taken from the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri in the Agwarra local government area of Niger state.
“I learned with immense sadness the news of the kidnappings of priests, faithful, and students in Nigeria and Cameroon,” he said.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Saturday said gunmen had kidnapped more than 300 students and teachers in raids on the Niger State school.
“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages,” Leo said, expressing his “deep sorrow, especially for the many young boys and girls kidnapped and for their anguished families”.
“Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours and that churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope,” he said at the end of the Angelus prayer.
The attackers stormed the school, said to be a private Catholic school, in the early hours of Friday.
Sources said the gunmen arrived in large numbers, riding on over 60 motorcycles and accompanied by a van.
They were said to have shot the school’s gatekeeper, leaving him with serious injuries.
A source in Agwara who confirmed the incident said, “Yes, it happened between 3 and 4 a.m. The number of students abducted is not yet confirmed.”
Another source claimed that some teachers were also forcibly taken away during the attack.
Gunmen on Monday stormed a secondary school in Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls.
The two abduction operations and an attack on a church in Kwara State, in which two people were killed and dozens abducted, came as US President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he called the persecution of Christians by radical Islamists in Nigeria.
Niger Abduction Data
Giving an update on the St. Mary’s Schools’ kidnapping on Saturday, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter, Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, gave the number of victims as 315, contrary to the 227 earlier reported.
He gave the update after a verification exercise, and a final census was carried out.
A breakdown of newly released data showed that 303 students and 12 teachers were affected.
Yohanna said, “After we left the school at Papiri, we decided to make calls, do a verification exercise, and do further enquiries on those we had thought escaped successfully, only to discover that 88 more students were also captured after they tried to escape.
“Our attention was drawn to when some parents whose children we had thought escaped from the attack also came asking about their children. We became curious, and that was when we did a census and discovered that they were abducted.
“This now makes it 303 students (male and female), including 12 teachers (4 females and 8 males), bringing the total number of abducted persons to 315.”
He said the total of pupils and students before the incident was 629, with primary having 430 and the secondary having 199 students.
‘No Prior Warning’
He also addressed the widely reported notion that there were intelligent reports before the abduction.
“Also, it is very pertinent that we address the issue of prior warnings from either the government or security agencies, as peddled in some quarters.
“I have just got back to the village this night after I visited the school where I also met with parents of the children to assure them that we are working with the government and Security agencies to see that our children are rescued and brought back safely but was gritted with what I term “propaganda” that the school was given a prior warning by the government through a circular.
“That is not true, we did not receive any circular, it must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame. In the past, around 2022, when we heard of rumours of a security challenge, we did not hesitate; we shut down immediately. Is it when there is a circular from the government asking us to shut down that we will now not obey?”
According to him, the affected school is owned by the Catholic Diocese and not any individual, as earlier reported.
“The school is owned by the Catholic Diocese and not by any individual. None of the Reverend Sisters travelled to Abuja as they alleged. Whoever made that misleading statement should know that it is a false allegation and should withdraw such or provide the proofs and evidence.
“We have asked the Education Secretary if he received a circular, he said no; or if he was asked to send any to us, he said no. We asked if he was verbally informed, and he also said no. Let them tell the world who they gave the circular to, or through what channel they sent it.
“We also asked the National Association of Private Schools, and they did not get any such circular. They claimed the school was shut down and reopened a few days ago, which is also not true. We are law-abiding.”
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