Nigeria: Secures Release of 100 Abducted Niger Schoolchildren, 165 Still Held
The Federal Government has secured the release of 100 of the schoolchildren abducted from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State.
The students were taken on November 21, 2025, when armed bandits invaded the remote community around 2:00 a.m. The attackers, who arrived on motorbikes, raided the school’s dormitories for about three hours, kidnapping 315 people—303 students and 12 teachers.
Security agencies, supported by community hunters, immediately launched search operations across surrounding forests.
Within 24 hours of the attack, 50 students managed to escape and were reunited with their families. This left 265 victims—253 schoolchildren and all 12 teachers—still in captivity.
To contain the crisis, the Federal Government imposed a 24-hour security cordon and deployed aerial surveillance across parts of Niger, Kwara, and Kebbi States. President Bola Tinubu also cancelled a scheduled international trip to oversee the rescue efforts.
In response to the heightened insecurity, authorities ordered the indefinite closure of all schools in Niger State and several federal institutions in high-risk areas.
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