Folks stand close to a show native newspapers on the road of Lagos with headlines on gunmen abducting schoolchildren and employees of the St. Mary’s Catholic Major and Secondary College in Papiri neighborhood in Nigeria, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
Sunday Alamba/AP
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Sunday Alamba/AP
ABUJA, Nigeria — Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic faculty in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and at the moment are with their households, the college authority stated Sunday, bringing reduction to some distraught households after one of many largest faculty abductions in Nigeria’s historical past.
The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, in accordance with the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Affiliation of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the college. A complete of 253 schoolchildren and 12 lecturers are nonetheless held by the abductors, he stated in an announcement.
“We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” Yohanna stated.
The pupils and college students had been seized along with their lecturers by gunmen who attacked the St. Mary’s College, a Catholic establishment in Niger state’s distant Papiri neighborhood, on Friday. No group has but claimed duty for the abductions and authorities have stated tactical squads have been deployed alongside native hunters to rescue the youngsters.
It was not instantly clear the place the Niger state youngsters had been being held or how they managed to return house. Nigeria’s navy and police didn’t instantly reply to an Related Press inquiry.
“As much as we receive the return of these 50 children that escaped with some sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue in your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims,” the Yohanna stated.
The Niger state assault occurred 4 days after 25 schoolchildren had been seized in related circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga city, which is 170 kilometers (106 miles) away.
Each states are in a northern area of Nigeria the place dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as a method of dominating distant communities with little authorities and safety presence.
Satellite tv for pc picture exhibits that the Niger state faculty compound is connected to an adjoining major faculty, with greater than 50 classroom and dormitory buildings. It is situated close to a significant highway linking the cities of Yelwa and Mokwa.
College kidnappings have come to outline insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs typically see colleges as “strategic” targets to attract extra consideration.
Niger state hurriedly closed down all colleges after Friday’s assault, whereas some federal faculties in battle hotspots throughout the area had been additionally closed by the Nigerian authorities.
