Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said Sunday, bringing relief to some distraught families after one of the largest school abductions in Nigeria’s history.
The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the school. A total of 253 schoolchildren and 12 teachers are still held by the kidnappers, he said in a statement.
“We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” Yohanna said.
Sunday Alamba / AP
The pupils and students were seized together with their teachers by gunmen who attacked the St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in Niger state’s remote Papiri community, on Friday. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and authorities have said tactical squads have been deployed alongside local hunters to rescue the children.
It was not immediately clear where the Niger state children were being held or how they managed to return home. Nigeria’s military and police did not immediately respond to an Associated Press inquiry.
“As much as we receive the return of these 50 children that escaped with some sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue in your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims,” Yohanna said.
Pope Leo XIV called for the immediate release of the schoolchildren and staff of the school, saying at the end of a mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.
“I feel great sorrow, especially for the many girls and boys who have been abducted and for their anguished families,” the pontiff said. “I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”
All schools in Niger state were ordered to close on Saturday in response to the kidnappings, reported BBC, a CBS partner. Dominic Adamu, whose daughters are students at St. Mary’s School but were not abducted, told the outlet that the attack “took everybody by surprise.”
“Everybody is weak,” Adamu said, according to the BBC.
Another woman, who was not identified by name, told the outlet that her 6- and 13-year-old nieces had been kidnapped from the school, adding: “I just want them to go home.”
Sunday Alamba / AP 
The Niger state attack happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga town, which is 106 miles away.
Both states are in a northern region of Nigeria where dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as one way of dominating remote communities with little government and security presence.
Satellite image shows that the Niger state school compound is attached to an adjoining primary school, with more than 50 classrooms and dormitory buildings. It’s located near a major road linking the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa.
School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention.
Niger state hurriedly closed down all schools after Friday’s attack, while some federal colleges in conflict hotspots across the region were also closed by the Nigerian government.
“I will not relent”
The kidnappings are happening against the backdrop of President Trump’s claims of “Christian persecution” in the West African country. Attacks in Nigeria affect both Christians and Muslims. The school attack earlier this week in Kebbi state was in a Muslim-majority town.
Arrests are rare and ransom payments are common in many of the hot spots in northern Nigeria.
Confidence McHarry, a security analyst at Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence, said that while there’s little evidence that Trump’s comments might have inspired the gunmen to launch more attacks in the hope that more attention would bring higher ransoms, “the absence of consequences is what is fuelling these attacks.”
In a statement welcoming the freedom of some of those kidnapped in Niger state and Kebbi state, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said his government will not relent until every hostage is freed.
“Let me be clear: I will not relent. Every Nigerian, in every state, has the right to safety — and under my watch, we will secure this nation and protect our people,” he added.