A prominent local Catholic leader says Nigeria’s government is not making meaningful headway in rescuing more than 250 children abducted from St Mary’s boarding school in Papiri last Friday. Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Niger State chapter and the region’s Catholic head, has said that rescue efforts have mainly involved compiling the students’ names, and very little visible action to free them.
State authorities have disputed the accusations, with Niger State Police Chief Adamu Abdullahi Elleman insisting that security forces are actively conducting operations. He confirmed that a tactical team and other agencies are stationed in the community and that officers have been moving between the school and Agwara, the operational base.
The exact number of abducted students remains unclear, with CAN’s Niger chapter indicating 303 students and 12 staff members were taken during the attack on November 21, 2025. The association revised its earlier figure of 215 students after conducting a verification exercise and final census. Bishop Yohanna explained that 88 other students were also captured after they tried to escape during the attack. Fifty students reportedly escaped on November 23 and have been reunited with their families, leaving approximately 265 people in captivity.
Nigerian officials have blamed criminal gangs for the spree of abductions involving ransom, which has surged in recent weeks. The Papiri incident follows two other high profile abductions in Nigeria last week. In Kebbi State, 25 girls were abducted on November 17 from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town. One girl escaped on the same day, and President Bola Tinubu announced on Tuesday that all remaining 24 girls had been rescued, though no details were released about the rescue operation.
Additionally, 38 worshippers abducted from the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, on November 18 have been freed, according to Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. Gunmen attacked the church during a service that was recorded and broadcast online, killing two people and taking others hostage. The attack sent the community into panic, with residents and travelers fleeing into nearby bushes for safety.
Governors across the country have heightened security at schools, churches, and other vulnerable sites as parents rush to bring children home. The Nigerian federal government ordered the immediate closure of 47 federal unity colleges, mostly in conflict battered northern states including Niger, Kebbi, Plateau, and Benue. The Niger State government announced the closure of all schools in the state until 2026, commencing Christmas break early. The unity colleges are a group of elite government schools with attendance drawn from across the country.
The Niger State government publicly criticized St Mary’s School management, alleging that the school reopened without notifying or seeking clearance from authorities, despite earlier intelligence warnings about elevated threat levels in that part of the state. The Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger State, along with the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora which owns the school, rejected this as blame shifting and denied ever receiving such a warning. Diocese officials questioned whether the school had actually received an official closure order, stating that no such official communication had been received.
Responding to the increased security concerns, Police Chief Kayode Egbetokun indicated that security operations have intensified, including enhanced intelligence efforts, and he pledged that all remaining captives would be rescued unharmed. According to the Niger State Police Command, tactical police teams, military units, and other security agencies have been deployed to comb nearby forests in a bid to rescue the kidnapped students.
The attack on St Mary’s School occurred around 2:00 am when armed bandits invaded the campus. During the assault, one school security guard was seriously injured. Residents said the school lacked a formal security presence at the time of the attack. The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora confirmed that a security staffer was badly shot during the attack.
In the meantime, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has been forced to shift his attention from international engagements to domestic security. The president cancelled his planned trip to the G20 summit in South Africa following the abductions, with Vice President Kashim Shettima attending in his place. Tinubu also delayed his departure to await further security briefings on both the schoolgirl abductions and the church attack.
St Mary’s School is a Catholic institution located in Papiri, on the northern edge of Kainji Lake in the Agwara local government area of Niger State. Prior to the kidnapping, the school enrolled 629 students. The school is classified as a secondary school, but satellite images show the compound linked to an adjacent primary school with more than 50 buildings, including classrooms and dormitories.
The abduction at St Mary’s School is one of the largest in Nigerian history, exceeding the 276 girls abducted during the infamous Chibok incident of 2014. Nigeria struggles with an abduction crisis, with at least five mass kidnappings occurring in schools since President Tinubu took office in May 2023. Analysts and locals say gangs of bandits often target schools, travelers and remote villagers in kidnappings for ransoms.
Pope Francis made an appeal for the release of the students and teachers during his weekly address of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, November 24, urging the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release. I feel great pain, especially for the many young men and women who have been abducted and for their anguished families, he said.
Amnesty International criticized President Tinubu’s security policies as having failed to prevent the kidnapping. The human rights organization has long called for comprehensive reforms to Nigeria’s security architecture to address the country’s worsening kidnapping crisis.
Residents described scenes of panic as families searched for their missing children. Dauda Chekula, 62, said four of his grandchildren, aged seven to 10, were taken. We don’t know what is happening now, because we have not heard anything since this morning, he told The Associated Press news agency shortly after the attack.
The school kidnappings come weeks after United States President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he described as targeted killings of Nigeria’s Christians. The Nigerian government rejected this narrative, saying Muslims are the majority victims of attacks by armed groups. Trump’s assertions echo claims that have gained traction among right wing and Christian evangelical circles in recent months.
