Nigeria sees one of worst mass abductions as 315 taken from school

More than 300 children and staff are thought to have been kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in central Nigeria. This makes it one of the worst mass kidnappings the country has ever seen.

The Christian Association of Nigeria said 303 students and 12 teachers were kidnapped from St Mary’s School in Papiri in Niger state; This number is much higher than previously estimated.

It was stated that the figures were revised upward “following a verification exercise”.

The kidnapping took place at a time when attacks by armed groups were increasing. Number of people reviewed exceeds 276 people kidnapped The infamous Chibok mass kidnapping incident in 2014.

Local police said gunmen broke into the school around 02:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Friday morning and abducted students staying there.

Dominic Adamu, whose daughters attended the school but were not admitted, told the BBC: “Everyone is skinny… it surprised everyone.”

A distressed woman told the BBC through tears that her nieces, aged six and 13, had been abducted, adding: “I just want them to come home.”

Police said security units were “combing the forests in an attempt to rescue the kidnapped students.”

happened reported that 215 students were initially enrolled – but this figure was later revised upwards. The new number is believed to be almost half of the school’s student population, AFP news agency reported.

Authorities in Niger state said the school ignored an order to close all boarding facilities after intelligence warnings of the increased risk of attacks.

The move exposed students and staff to “avoidable risk,” the statement said. The school did not comment on this claim.

Kidnapping of people for ransom by criminal gangs known locally as bandits has become a major problem in many parts of Nigeria.

Payment of ransoms was banned in an attempt to cut off funding to criminal gangs, but this had little effect.

Friday’s mass kidnapping was the country’s third such attack in a week.

On Monday, more than 20 schoolgirls, said by the BBC to be Muslim, were abducted from a boarding school in neighboring Kebbi province.

Further south, a church was also attacked in Kwara state; Two people died and 38 people were kidnapped.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has postponed his foreign trips, including the G20 summit in South Africa this weekend, to address security concerns.

The central government has ordered the closure of more than 40 federal colleges and government schools in some states have also been closed.

But rising insecurity is fueling anger as well as fear in Nigeria; citizens are demanding stronger action to protect children and communities.

The mass kidnapping followed allegations by right-wing figures in the United States, including President Donald Trump, that Christians were being persecuted in Nigeria; A claim denied by the Nigerian government.

For months campaigners and politicians in Washington have been Claims Islamist militants are systematically targeting Christians in Nigeria.

Earlier this month, Trump said he would send troops “with firearms” to Nigeria if the African country’s government “continues to allow the killing of Christians.”

The Nigerian government has called allegations that Christians are being persecuted a “gross distortion of the truth.”

“Terrorists are attacking anyone who rejects their murderous ideology – Muslims, Christians and those of no faith at all,” one official said.

In the northeast, jihadist groups have been fighting the state for more than a decade.

Organizations that monitor the violence say most of the victims of these groups are Muslims, as most of the attacks occur in the country’s Muslim-majority northern region.

In central Nigeria, there are frequent deadly attacks by predominantly Muslim herdsmen against predominantly Christian farmers.

But analysts say these are often driven by competition for resources such as water or land rather than religion.

Militant Islamist group Boko Haram took 276 girls from their school in the town of Chibok in 2014.

The incident attracted international attention and sparked a global campaign aimed at their return, which included the intervention of then-US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Many have since either escaped or been released; but around 100 are still missing.