Overview
- The Christian Association of Nigeria revised the tally after checking rolls, reporting 303 students and 12 teachers abducted from St. Mary’s in Papiri, Niger State.
- Security forces have been deployed and search operations are underway, while multiple states have shut schools or tightened protection.
- No group has claimed responsibility, reflecting a wider pattern in which ransom gangs and Islamist militants carry out mass abductions in northern and central Nigeria.
- State officials accuse the school of reopening despite a directive to keep boarding facilities closed, a claim disputed by church representatives; a security guard was shot during the assault.
- The raid occurred in the early hours of Friday, days after separate kidnappings in Kebbi and Kwara, and President Bola Tinubu canceled foreign travel to oversee the response.