Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Nigeria Catholic School Abduction: Trustee Reports 215 Children Taken as Hunt Intensifies

Authorities are verifying the toll while security forces fan out in a growing kidnap‑for‑ransom crisis in the country’s northwest.

Overview

  • Armed attackers raided St. Mary’s boarding school in Papiri/Agwara, Niger State, in the early hours of Friday, abducting pupils and staff and wounding a guard, according to church officials and police.
  • The school’s trustee says at least 215 children and 12 staff were seized, while state authorities confirm the abduction and caution that the final count is still being assessed.
  • Troops and police have been deployed to track the captors in surrounding areas as officials coordinate search operations.
  • State officials say the school reopened against a directive to keep boarding facilities closed after intelligence warned of heightened attack risks.
  • The assault follows mass kidnappings in Kebbi and Kwara earlier in the week, prompting President Bola Tinubu to cancel planned foreign travel and escalate the federal response.