315 people taken from school in one of Nigeria’s worst mass kidnappings

More than 300 children and staff are believed to have been abducted by gunmen from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, in one of the worst mass kidnappings in the country’s history.

The Christian Council of Nigeria said that 303 students and 12 teachers were taken away from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, significantly exceeding previous estimates.

The company said the figures had been revised upward “after verification.”

The kidnapping comes amid a surge in attacks by armed groups. The revised number of people kidnapped exceeded the 276 people kidnapped that year. The infamous Chibok mass kidnapping of 2014.

Local police said armed men stormed into the school around 02:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Friday and kidnapped students living on campus.

Dominic Adamu, whose daughters attend the school but were not accepted, told the BBC: “Everyone is so weak… it’s a surprise to everyone.”

A grieving woman told the BBC in tears that her nieces, aged six and 13, had been kidnapped, adding: “I just want them home.”

Police said security agencies were “scouring the forest to rescue the abducted students”.

It turned out to be Initial reports were that 215 students had been removed – But that number has since been revised upwards. The new numbers are believed to account for almost half of the school’s student population, AFP reported.

Authorities in Niger state said schools ignored orders to close all boarding facilities after receiving intelligence warnings of an increased risk of attacks.

They said in a statement that the move put students and staff at “avoidable risk.” The school has not commented on the claims.

Kidnapping people for ransom by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, has become a major problem in many parts of Nigeria.

Paying ransoms has been banned in an effort to reduce the availability of funds to criminal gangs, but this has had little effect.

Friday’s mass kidnapping was the third such attack in the country in a week.

More than 20 Muslim schoolgirls were abducted from a boarding school in neighboring Kebbi state on Monday, according to the BBC.

A church in the further south of Kwara state was also attacked, killing two people and abducting 38 others.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has postponed his overseas travel, including this weekend’s G20 summit in South Africa, to address security concerns.

The central government has ordered the closure of more than 40 federal universities, and public schools in some states have also been closed.

But growing insecurity is fueling anger and fear in Nigeria, with citizens demanding stronger action to protect children and communities.

Right-wing figures in the United States, including President Donald Trump, claim that Nigerian Christians are being persecuted, a charge the Nigerian government denies.

For months, activists and politicians in Washington have been Claims Islamist militants systematically target Christians in Nigeria.

Earlier this month, Trump said he would “shoot the gun” by sending troops to Nigeria if African governments “continue to allow the killing of Christians.”

The Nigerian government has called claims that Christians are being persecuted a “gross distortion of reality.”

“Terrorists attack anyone who rejects their murderous ideology – Muslims, Christians and people of no faith,” one official said.

In the northeast, jihadist groups have been fighting the government for more than a decade.

Organizations that monitor violence say most of the victims of these groups are Muslims, as most attacks occur in the country’s predominantly Muslim north.

Deadly attacks also occur frequently in central Nigeria between herdsmen (mainly Muslims) and farmers (mainly Christians).

However, analysts say these actions are often motivated by competition for resources such as water or land, rather than religion.

In 2014, the radical Islamist group Boko Haram took 276 girls from schools in the town of Chibok.

The incident attracted international attention and sparked a global campaign seeking their return, including the intervention of then-US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Many have since escaped or been released, but as many as 100 people remain missing.