by Nigerian News24 Correspondents
Bishop Yohanna of the Catholic Diocese overseeing St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, has dismissed claims that the school received advance warning of an attack before the recent abduction of hundreds of students. He said there was no reason the institution would ignore such a warning if it had been issued.
Yohanna, who also chairs the Niger State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), called on the Federal Government to urgently deploy adequate security personnel to protect schools across the state. He insisted that no intelligence was shared with the school before the incident.
The bishop described the situation as deeply distressing for parents, revealing that two parents died from shock following news of the mass abduction.
He appealed to both federal and state authorities to intensify efforts to secure the release of the remaining students and teachers still being held.
The attackers kidnapped more than 300 children from the Catholic-run institution, marking another resurgence of large-scale school abductions in Nigeria. In the same week, 25 schoolgirls were taken from a different school, while 38 worshippers were abducted from places of worship in Kebbi and Kwara States. These incidents prompted President Bola Tinubu to declare a national security emergency.
Although at least 50 students from St. Mary’s School later escaped, many children—some of them very young—along with staff members are still in captivity.
President Tinubu has ordered a nationwide manhunt for the perpetrators and pledged that all victims of recent abductions across the country will be rescued.
Opposition figures have criticised the government’s handling of national security, with some calling for greater accountability in the wake of the repeated attacks.
Nigeria has struggled with mass abductions for years, often carried out by organised criminal groups targeting rural communities. While many victims are eventually released, rescued, or able to escape, the cycle of violence remains a major national concern.
The country’s first major school abduction occurred in 2014 when Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 girls from Chibok. More than a decade later, around 90 of them are still unaccounted for.
The security situation has also drawn international attention. Earlier this month, former U.S. President Donald Trump made claims about targeted attacks on Christians—claims the Nigerian government has firmly rejected.