More than 200 students and staff have been kidnapped from a Catholic boarding school in central Nigeria, marking the third major kidnapping in the country this week and prompting a massive response from security forces.
The assault on St. Mary’s Secondary School, Agawara Local Government Area of Niger State, took place between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. (local time) on Friday, November 21.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed that there were a total of 217 victims, including 215 students and 12 teachers.
A security guard was also shot dead during the invasion. While some students managed to escape.
The incident took place after the kidnapping of 25 girls from a Muslim boarding school in Kebbi State on Monday, November 17, and another attack on a church in Kwara State on Tuesday, November 18, where dozens of people were kidnapped.
To address the current security crisis, President Bola Tinubu has canceled all foreign trips to control the escalation of violence.
State government officials revealed that the school had received several intelligence warnings about potential attacks but had been reopened.
Secretary to Government, Abubakar Usman, said: “Unfortunately, St. Mary’s School pretended to resume academic activities without informing or seeking permission from the state government. »
In response to the situation, authorities ordered the closure of 47 federal boarding schools and deployed tactical police and military units to search nearby forests for victims.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the latest incident, although criminal gangs known locally as “bandits” frequently target schools for ransoms.
These mass kidnappings illustrate the increase in such incidents since March 2024 and have intensified scrutiny of Nigeria’s security situation, particularly following US President Donald Trump’s recent comments on possible military intervention in the country.
