Students Taken in, Attack on Catholic School in Central Nigeria

A number of students have been abducted from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, marking the second mass kidnapping of students in the country within a week.

The incident occurred at St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, an area where authorities had earlier ordered all boarding schools to shut down temporarily because of growing security concerns.

Although the exact number of abducted individuals is still unclear, residents fear that as many as 100 students and staff may have been taken during the early-morning raid.

Nigeria has seen a surge in attacks by armed groups in recent days. On Monday, over 20 schoolgirls were taken from a boarding school in neighbouring Kebbi State. A separate attack on a church in Kwara State resulted in multiple abductions while a service was being streamed online.

Police say that armed men, often referred to locally as “bandits”, entered St. Mary’s School around 02:00 local time on Friday and took an undetermined number of students from their hostel. Families in the community are anxiously waiting for updates as security agencies search nearby forests for the missing students.

Officials in Niger State said St. Mary’s School did not comply with a directive to close boarding facilities after intelligence warnings suggested that schools were at increased risk.

According to the state’s statement, the school resumed operations without notifying the government, which authorities say put students and staff at unnecessary risk. The school has not yet issued a comment.

The abduction comes amid international attention on Nigeria’s security challenges. Recent comments from former U.S. President Donald Trump alleging religious persecution in Nigeria have been rejected by the Nigerian government, which maintains that extremist groups target anyone who opposes their ideology, regardless of faith.

Nigeria continues to face multiple security crises at once. Kidnappings for ransom by criminal groups have become widespread, while insurgent organisations in the north-east have carried out attacks for more than a decade. Analysts note that some conflicts in the central region are driven more by competition over resources than by religious differences.

Local reports indicate that the kidnappers who attacked the church in Kwara State have demanded a ransom, even though ransom payments are illegal. Two girls taken earlier in the week from a school in Kebbi State have managed to escape, but more than 20 others are still missing.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has cancelled upcoming foreign trips to address the escalating security situation across the country.