Catholic Bishop Slams Nigerian Government Over Abducted Schoolchildren

The Catholic Church in Niger State, Nigeria, has accused the government of failing to take meaningful action to rescue more than 250 students abducted from St Mary’s Catholic Boarding School in Papiri village last Friday.

Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who leads the Catholic Church in the region and chairs the Niger chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), told the BBC that the only official measure so far has been the compilation of the children’s names. “I’m not aware of any effort made by government beyond collecting the names of the students from us,” he said.

According to CAN, 303 students and 12 staff members were kidnapped, though 50 children managed to escape and have been safely reunited with their families. The identities of the kidnappers remain unclear, but Nigeria has been grappling with a rise in criminal gang abductions for ransom.

The state’s police chief disputed the bishop’s claims, arguing that the school had failed to cooperate with search and rescue operations. Niger State Governor Umar Bago had also claimed in local media that the church ignored orders to close its school after threats of attacks. Bishop Yohanna, however, denied ever receiving such directives.

The incident has drawn international attention. Former US President Donald Trump reportedly threatened military intervention if Nigeria does not stop the “killing of Christians.” Last week, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met with Nigeria’s National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to discuss ways to curb violence against Christians and combat jihadist groups in West Africa. The two governments agreed to establish a working group to strengthen defence and security cooperation.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, continues to face widespread insecurity, with militant Islamist groups conducting insurgencies in the northeast. Last week, the government confirmed that a senior army general was killed in an ambush in Borno State, highlighting the ongoing threats from extremists.

The Nigerian government maintains that insecurity affects all citizens, regardless of faith, and insists the crisis is driven by criminality, extremism, and land-related conflicts, not religious persecution.