Fifty of the 303 students abducted from a Catholic boarding school in Niger State, north-central Nigeria, have escaped from captivity and reunited with their families, school authorities confirmed on Sunday. The escape comes as local and international pressure mounts for the release of the hundreds still missing. The children aged 10 to 18 fled their captors individually between Friday and Saturday, according to Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (Niger Chapter) and proprietor of the school. Following the escape, Yohanna said officials verified the students’ return through direct visits and calls to parents.
Despite the relief, 253 students and 12 teachers remain in captivity, nearly a week after heavily armed gunmen stormed the school in the remote town, in what has become one of Nigeria’s largest school abductions in recent years. Mass kidnappings have plagued northern Nigeria since 2014, when Boko Haram militants abducted 276 girls from Chibok, an event that sparked global outrage. In a separate incident highlighting the country’s worsening insecurity, 38 worshippers kidnapped during a deadly attack on the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, have been freed, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq announced. The attack, carried out on Tuesday, left two people dead and dozens taken hostage.
Rights activist and Bring Back Our Girls co-founder Aisha Yesufu condemned the persistent abductions, saying Nigeria has failed to protect its children. “My first reaction was numbness — heartbreak,” she said. “As a nation, we should have said ‘never again.’ No child should be touched.” President Bola Tinubu praised the security forces for securing the release of the Kwara worshippers but did not provide details. Meanwhile, Pope Francis publicly appealed for the “swift and safe” release of the remaining Niger State schoolchildren during his Sunday address in Rome. Kidnappings for ransom remain a thriving criminal enterprise across parts of Nigeria, as overstretched security agencies struggle to curb the violence. Authorities have not yet announced any breakthroughs in negotiations or rescue operations for those still being held.
