50 Nigerian students escape after Catholic school kidnapping attack

Fifty of the 303 students kidnapped from a Catholic school in Nigeria on Friday have escaped and have now been reunited with their families, authorities said, as schools in Niger remained closed following the attack.

Most Rev., president of the Nigerian Christian Association in Niger state and owner of the school. According to Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, students ranging in age from 10 to 18 escaped individually between Friday and Saturday.

Yohanna, St. He said a total of 253 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s School were still detained, adding: “We were able to detect this when we contacted some parents and decided to visit them.”

Authorities did not provide further details about how the children escaped or where the remaining students and teachers were being held.

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Pope Leo XIV said at the end of the mass held in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident and called for the immediate release of the children and school staff.

“I feel great sorrow, especially for the many abducted boys and girls and their grieving families,” the Pope said. “I make a sincere call for the immediate release of the hostages and call on the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”

In this photo published by the Christian Association of Nigeria, St. Paul after gunmen kidnapped children and staff in the Papiri community in Nigeria on Friday, November 21, 2025. A man is seen walking past the furniture at St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary and Secondary School. (Christian Association of Nigeria via AP)

According to the Associated Press, no group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack. The publication added that authorities said tactical teams and local hunters were working to rescue the kidnapped children.

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Niger State quickly closed all schools following Friday’s attack, while the Nigerian government also closed many federal colleges in conflict-prone areas in the region.

St. The attack at St. Mary’s came just four days after gunmen abducted 25 girls from a boarding school in Kebbi State and killed at least one staff member. The search for the missing girls continues.

This photo published by the Christian Association of Nigeria is from St. Paul after gunmen kidnapped children and staff from the Papiri community in Nigeria on Friday, November 21, 2025. It shows the dormitories of St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary and Secondary School. (Christian Association of Nigeria via AP)

Meanwhile, 38 worshipers kidnapped during the deadly church attack in central Nigeria’s Kwara State have been released, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said on Sunday. Gunmen attacked the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku town on Tuesday, killing two people and taking others hostage. President Bola Tinubu credited “the efforts of security agencies” for securing their release but did not provide further details.

Nigeria has seen a series of attacks on Christians and their institutions, leading President Donald Trump to declare the West African country a “country of particular concern.” However, the Nigerian government disputed the US claims.

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“I’m really angry about this,” the president told Fox News Radio on Friday. “What happened in Nigeria is shameful.”

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Anders Hagstrom and the Associated Press contributed to this report.