Nigeria has successfully rescued 100 schoolchildren who were abducted last month from a Christian Catholic boarding school, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), as reported by Reuters. The joint operation by the country’s military and police freed the children on Sunday.
On 21 November, armed assailants attacked St. Mary’s Catholic Boarding School in Papiri village of Niger State, kidnapping 227 students along with 12 teachers. Immediately after the incident, Nigeria’s security forces launched an extensive rescue operation.
After 15 days of combing the region, the joint forces managed to rescue 100 students. However, the remaining 127 students and the 12 teachers are still missing, and their current condition is unknown. Security officials have not yet provided any updates on their status.
Local and international media, including Reuters, attempted to contact senior government officials for comments, but none responded.
Daniel Atori, head of CAN’s Niger chapter, told Reuters: “We still do not know the condition of the 127 missing students and 12 staff members. The government has also not informed us of anything yet. We are praying for their safety and hoping they return soon.”
Nigeria remains one of the world’s most violence-affected and crime-ridden countries, with armed groups frequently engaging in robbery, kidnapping, human trafficking, and murder. Several of these groups are influenced by international extremist organizations such as al-Qaeda and ISIS and often target Christian places of worship, businesses, and schools.
The country last witnessed a similar mass abduction in March 2024, when more than 200 students were kidnapped from a school in Kaduna State.
