Niger School Abduction: 256 Pupils and Teachers Still Missing, Catholic Bishop Reveals

More than a week after the attack on St. Mary’s Catholic Schools in Niger State, 256 pupils and teachers remain missing, deepening community distress and prompting a national emergency on school safety amid a rising wave of kidnappings across Nigeria.

The Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese and Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Niger State, Bulus Yohanna, has revealed that 256 pupils and teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic Schools, Papiri, are still missing more than a week after the mass abduction that shocked the nation.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television, Bishop Yohanna explained that the school initially discovered 315 people were unaccounted for—including 303 children and 12 teachers—following a headcount conducted shortly after the attack.

According to him, 50 victims later found their way home, but 265 remained missing, many of them very young children, some of nursery-school age.

The bishop said the incident has plunged the entire community into fear, confusion, and deep psychological distress. He also shared that two parents died from shock after learning their children were among the abducted.

Bishop Yohanna dismissed claims that the school had received prior intelligence about the attack, stressing that the assault happened without warning and took everyone by surprise.

The mass kidnapping—one of the largest in recent years—adds to a worrying escalation of abductions across the country. Earlier the same week, 25 schoolgirls were seized in another incident, and 38 worshippers were kidnapped from churches in Kebbi and Kwara States, underscoring a growing security crisis.

Following nationwide outrage, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a national emergency on school safety and ordered a sweeping manhunt aimed at rescuing the abducted students and staff.

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SOURCES: ALLSCHOOL, GISTREEL