Christian group says 315 taken in Nigeria's latest school abduction

A Christian organization said Saturday that 315 students and teachers were kidnapped in Nigeria the day before, marking the country's second mass school abduction in a week and deepening nationwide security concerns, Report informs via AFP.

The early Friday raid on St Mary's school in Niger state in central Nigeria came after gunmen on Monday stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls.

The Christian Association of Nigeria said the new number came "after a verification exercise" following the early Friday mass kidnapping, and added that "The total number of victims abducted... is now 303 students and 12 teachers".

The number of students kidnapped is almost half of the school's 629 enrolled pupils.

Authorities in the nearby states of Katsina and Plateau have ordered all schools to close as a precautionary measure.

The Niger state government closed many schools and President Bola Tinubu cancelled international engagements, including attending the G-20 summit in Johannesburg, to handle the crisis.

The two abduction operations and an attack on a church in the west of the country, in which two people were killed, have happened since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he called the killing of Christians in Nigeria.

Nigeria is still scarred by the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls by Boko Haram terrorists at Chibok in northeastern Borno state more than a decade ago. Some of those girls are still missing.

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Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped at least 227 students and teachers at a Catholic school in the northwest on Friday, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said, the latest in a spate of school attacks this week that has forced the government to shut 47 colleges, Report informs via Reuters.

Friday's incident in Niger state was the largest mass kidnapping of school children since the March 2024 abduction of more than 200 students in northern Kaduna state.

Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, the CAN chairman in Niger, said he had travelled to the school. He said some students managed to escape, but gave no details.

"From our record, 215 pupils and students, including 12 teachers, were abducted by the terrorists," Yohanna said in a statement.

Earlier, police and local government officials in Niger state confirmed the kidnapping from St. Mary's School, but they did not say how many.

Nigeria's security situation has been under heightened scrutiny since US President Donald Trump threatened "fast" military action if the country fails to crack down on the killing of Christians.

In the first high-level meeting between the US and Nigeria since Trump's threat, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth wrote on X that he met Nigeria's national security advisor on Thursday to discuss the persecution of Christians.

Nigeria's government says Trump's claims that Christians face persecution in Nigeria are a misrepresentation.

Police said security agencies were on the scene of Friday's attack on the Catholic school, combing nearby forests to try to rescue those abducted.

The Niger state government said the school had ignored an instruction that boarding schools should be closed because of intelligence indicating a high chance of attacks.

Other attacks this week include the kidnapping on Monday of 25 schoolgirls from a boarding school in Kebbi state and an attack on a church in Kwara state, in which a church official told Reuters that 38 worshippers were taken by gunmen.