Over 200 students have been kidnapped from a Catholic boarding school in western Nigeria – the second mass abduction in the country this week.
Gunmen took 215 students and 12 teachers from St Mary’s School in Agwara, Niger state, early on Friday, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria.
Daniel Atori, a spokesperson for the Niger state chapter of the association, said he met parents of the abducted children “to assure them that we are working with the government and security agencies to see that our children are rescued and brought back safely”.
St Mary’s is a secondary school that has students aged 12 to 17, but the institution is attached to an adjoining primary school with more than 50 classrooms and dormitory buildings.
Dauda Chekula, 62, said that four of his grandchildren, ranging in age from seven to 10, were among those abducted.
“We don’t know what is happening now, because we have not heard anything since this morning,” Mr Chekula said.
“The children who were able to escape have scattered, some of them ran back to their houses and the only information we are getting is that the attackers are still moving with the remaining children into the bush.”
On Monday, 25 schoolgirls were kidnapped from a boarding school in neighbouring Kebbi state, northwest Nigeria.
Police said men armed with rifles stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in the town of Maga at around 4am local time (3am UK time), arriving on motorcycles in an apparently well-planned attack.
Student escapes from kidnappers
A 15-year-old student who was among those abducted from the boarding school in Kebbi state’s Danko-Wasagu area managed to escape.
She said she found refuge at a teacher’s house.
Police at the school compound to investigate the kidnapping. Pic: Africa Independent Television/Reuters
It was not immediately clear who was to blame for either of the abductions.
Abubakar Usman, the secretary to the Niger state government, said in a statement that the latest kidnapping occurred despite a prior intelligence warning of heightened threats.
“Regrettably, St Mary’s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the state government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,” it read.
A security staffer was “badly shot” during the early-morning attack on the school, the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora said.
Blood stains on the floor of the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School. Pic: AP
Ransom demand for worshippers
Separately, gunmen attacked a church in Kwara state on Monday, killing at least two people.
A church official said 38 worshippers were also kidnapped by the gunmen, who have since issued a ransom demand of 100 million naira (£52,660) for each person.
Kebbi, Kwara and Niger states border one another.
Worshippers run for cover after hearing gunshots in Kwara state, Nigeria. Pic: Reuters
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The attacks have highlighted insecurity in Nigeria and forced President Bola Tinubu to postpone foreign trips.
At least 1,500 students have been abducted in the region since Boko Haram extremists seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Niger and Kebbi state, but analysts say gangs often target schools in kidnappings for ransom.
Nigeria was recently thrust into the spotlight after Donald Trump singled the country out, claiming that Christians are being persecuted – an allegation that the government rejected.
