Nigeria: Over 300 Students Were kidnapped During a School Raid
Gunmen abducted 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in Niger state, north-central Nigeria, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) reported Saturday. The updated figure revises the earlier count of 215 children following a verification and headcount conducted at the school.
According to a statement from the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of CAN’s Niger state chapter, who visited the site on Friday, an additional 88 students were seized while attempting to flee the attack. The victims, both boys and girls, are aged between 10 and 18.
The abduction took place in Papiri, a remote community in Niger state, just four days after a similar incident in which 25 schoolchildren were taken from Maga town in neighbouring Kebbi state, about 170 kilometres away.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest kidnapping. Authorities said security forces, including tactical teams and local hunters, have been deployed to track down the attackers and rescue the victims. Yohanna dismissed state government claims that the school had resumed classes despite a prior directive to close schools in the area amid rising security.
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