Overview
- Armed attackers raided St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, seizing more than 300 students and staff in one of Nigeria’s largest recent school kidnappings.
- The Christian Association of Nigeria says 50 students escaped and reunited with families, while President Bola Tinubu reports 51 students recovered.
- CAN estimates about 253 students remain captive along with 12 staff members, with families awaiting updates on their whereabouts.
- Police, military units and tactical teams are conducting search-and-rescue operations, as authorities order temporary closures of dozens of boarding schools in affected states.
- No group has claimed responsibility and officials have not disclosed the captives’ location, while the Pope urged their immediate release and 38 churchgoers abducted in a separate Kwara incident were rescued.