50 Students Escape After Mass Abduction at Nigeria’s St. Mary’s School as Toll Rises to 315

Overview

• Christian Association of Nigeria says 315 people were taken from St. Mary’s in Niger state, revising an earlier estimate of 227 to 303 students and 12 teachers.
• Fifty abducted students escaped between Friday and Saturday and reunited with their parents, according to the association.
• St. Mary’s reported the overnight raid occurred between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m., said 215 students and 12 teachers were seized, and confirmed a security guard was killed.
• Niger state police received an alert around 2:00 a.m. and deployed specialized units with soldiers as federal and state authorities ordered school closures and heightened security.
• The abduction followed a week of attacks that included 25 girls taken in Kebbi and dozens seized from a church in Kwara, while Washington weighs sanctions and military support and Abuja rejects a singular religious-persecution narrative.