{"id":394870,"date":"2025-11-21T15:06:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/394870\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T15:06:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:06:20","slug":"armed-men-abduct-children-and-staff-at-a-catholic-school-in-nigeria-days-after-latest-abduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/394870\/","title":{"rendered":"Armed men abduct children and staff at a Catholic school in Nigeria, days after latest abduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Armed men attacked a Catholic boarding school in a western region of Nigeria and abducted several schoolchildren and staff early Friday, the latest in a spate of abductions in Africa\u2019s most populous country that came just days after 25 schoolgirls were abducted<\/a> in a neighboring state.<\/p>\n

The attack and abductions took place at St. Mary\u2019s School, a Catholic institution in Agwara local government\u2019s Papiri community, said Abubakar Usman, the secretary to the Niger state government. He did not disclose the number of students and staff abducted, nor who might be responsible for the attack.<\/p>\n

Local media broadcaster Arise TV said 52 schoolchildren were abducted.<\/p>\n

The Niger State Police Command said the abductions took place in the early hours of Friday and that military and security forces have since been deployed to the community. It described St. Mary\u2019s as a secondary school, which in Nigeria would serve children between the ages of 12 and 17.<\/p>\n

A satellite view shows the school compound is attached to an adjoining primary school, with over 50 classroom and dormitory buildings. It is located near a major road linking the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa.<\/p>\n

The statement by the secretary to the Niger state government said the incident occurred despite prior intelligence warning of heightened threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegrettably, St. Mary\u2019s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the State Government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n

Umar Yunus, a Papiri resident, said there were only local security arrangements and no official police or government forces securing the school at the time of the attack on Friday.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora said in a statement that a security staffer was \u201cbadly shot\u201d during the attack.<\/p>\n

The abductions took place days after gunmen on Monday attacked a high school and abducted 25 schoolgirls in the neighboring Kebbi state, in Maga, around 170 km (105 miles) from Papiri. One of the girls later escaped and is safe, the school\u2019s principal said.<\/p>\n

In a separate attack on Monday in Kwara state, which borders Niger state, armed men attacked a church, killing 2 people<\/a>. During the attack, 38 worshippers were also abducted, Femi Agbabiaka, secretary of the Christ Apostolic Church, told The Associated Press on Friday. He said the armed men are demanding a ransom of 100 million naira ($69,000), for each of the abductees.<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s President Bola Tinubu<\/a> postponed his trip to this weekend\u2019s Group of 20 summit in South Africa in light of Monday\u2019s abductions and the attack on the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will use every instrument of the state to bring these girls home and to ensure that the perpetrators of this wickedness face the full weight of justice,\u201d Nigeria\u2019s Vice-President Kashim Shettima said during a visit to Kebbi state on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

No group has claimed responsibility<\/a> for the attacks in Niger and Kebbi state, but analysts and locals say gangs often target schools, travelers and remote villagers in kidnappings for ransom. Authorities say the gunmen are mostly former herders who have taken up arms against farming communities after clashes between them<\/a> over strained resources.<\/p>\n

Abductions have come to define the insecurity prevailing in Africa\u2019s most populous nation.<\/p>\n

At least 1,500 students<\/a> have been abducted in the region since Boko Haram jihadi extremists seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls<\/a> more than a decade ago. But bandits are also active in the region, and analysts say gangs often target schools to gain attention.<\/p>\n

Nigeria was recently thrust into the spotlight after U.S. President Donald Trump singled the country out, stating that Christians are being persecuted<\/a> \u2014 an allegation that the government rejected.<\/p>\n

While Christians are among those targeted, analysts say<\/a> the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria\u2019s Muslim-majority north, where most attacks occur.<\/p>\n

Analysts and residents blame the insecurity<\/a> on a failure to prosecute known attackers, and the rampant corruption that limits weapons supplies to security forces while ensuring a steady supply to the gangs.<\/p>\n

Yohanna Buru, a pastor and head of the Peace Revival And Reconciliation Foundation, an organization focused on interfaith dialogue, called on authorities to increase security around schools in areas affected by the security crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government was doing enough, then rampant kidnapping all over the country would not have happen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s as if they don\u2019t care about the future of our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal; Mohammed Ibrahim in Kaduna, Nigeria, also contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Armed men attacked a Catholic boarding school in a western region of Nigeria and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[7779,187355,4219,69,407,187354,57,22938,2936,50,44597,1219,80,365,3060,187356,103,107],"class_list":["post-394870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-africa","tag-bola-tinubu","tag-crime","tag-donald-trump","tag-education","tag-femi-agbabiaka","tag-general-news","tag-kidnapping","tag-law-enforcement","tag-news","tag-niger","tag-nigeria","tag-politics","tag-religion","tag-schools","tag-umar-yunus","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115588313077141096","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}