In a glimmer of hope amid Nigeria’s escalating security crisis, 50 schoolchildren from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Niger State, have escaped their captors just days after a harrowing mass kidnapping. The attack on Friday, saw armed gunmen storm the remote Catholic institution, abducting 303 pupils aged 10 to 18 and 12 teachers—one of the largest such incidents in the nation’s troubled history.
According to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the children slipped away individually between Friday and Saturday, quietly reuniting with their families without immediate detection by the kidnappers. “We have received some good news as fifty pupils escaped and have reunited with their parents,” stated CAN Chairman and school proprietor, Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, urging continued prayers for the remaining 253 students and 12 educators still held captive.
No group has claimed responsibility, but the raid fits a pattern of banditry in Nigeria’s north-central region, where armed gangs exploit weak governance for ransom. This follows a similar seizure of 25 girls in neighboring Kebbi State and a deadly church attack in the west, killing two and abducting dozens. U.S. President Donald Trump decried the violence as “Christian persecution” by radical Islamists, hinting at potential military intervention, while Pope Leo XIV appealed for the hostages’ immediate release.
Niger State has shuttered schools amid the fear, with tactical squads and local hunters deployed for rescues. As families cling to faith, the escapes underscore the resilience of these young Christian victims, but the urgent call for bolstered security echoes across the nation.
