Fifty pupils taken during the attack on St. Mary’s Secondary and Primary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, have escaped from captivity and returned to their families. The development offers the first sign of relief after armed men stormed the school before dawn on Friday, shot a security guard, and seized more than two hundred pupils, along with teachers and other staff.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger State, Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who owns the school, had earlier confirmed that 215 students and 12 staff members were taken. By Saturday, he reported that 88 additional pupils were still unaccounted for as families struggled to verify the whereabouts of their children.
In a statement released on Sunday by his aide, Daniel Atori, Rev. Yohanna said the fifty pupils who fled their captors on Saturday had already been reunited with their parents. He explained that the school runs both boarding and day programmes. The primary section alone has 430 pupils, with 377 in the boarding house and 53 attending as day students.
Read also:
- Number of abducted Niger school children rise to 303 after fresh verification — CAN
- 6 Brigade troops arrest notorious kidnap suspect in Taraba
- 2 Fulani herdsmen nap in Oyo over alleged kidnapping
Rev. Yohanna noted that the situation remains dire. Beyond the fifty who escaped, the school has confirmed that 141 pupils were not taken during the attack. The current count shows that 236 pupils, three children of staff members, fourteen secondary school students, and twelve staff are still held by the abductors.
Security agencies are continuing operations in the area, with efforts focused on locating and rescuing the remaining victims as pressure mounts for swift action.
