Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has admitted that 315 schoolchildren were abducted from a Catholic school in the state, weeks after he earlier denied that any pupils were taken.
The governor made the admission on Friday during the inauguration of commissioners and local government chairmen, where he requested a minute of silence for two parents of the abducted children who reportedly died from shock.
The abduction occurred on November 21, 2025, when terrorists invaded St Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area, and took away pupils, students and a teacher into the forest.
Earlier, Bago had dismissed reports of the abduction during an interview on TVC, claiming that bandits only fired shots into the air and fled, while the children ran into the bush.
However, speaking at Friday’s event, the governor confirmed that the attack resulted in a mass abduction.
“So far, 100 children have been rescued. We pray that the remaining are reunited with their families soon,” he said.
Out of the 315 abducted, 50 pupils reportedly escaped after two days, while 100 were rescued by security agencies after nearly two weeks. A total of 115 pupils and a teacher are still in captivity.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Northern Nigeria and the FCT, Rev. John Hayab, had earlier revealed that a parent died of a heart attack after learning that his three children were among those abducted.
Bago pledged to appoint indigenes of Papiri into his administration to ensure the community was carried along in the state’s governance.
President Bola Tinubu, meanwhile, has directed security agencies to intensify efforts to secure the release of the remaining abducted pupils and ensure their safe return.
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