Nigeria is reeling from its second mass school abduction in just one week after armed attackers kidnapped more than 200 students and a dozen teachers from a Catholic boarding school in Niger State. The incident, which occurred in the early hours on Friday, has intensified concerns over a growing wave of violence targeting schools amid overlapping security crises.
The raid took place at St. Mary’s School in the Papiri community of Agwara Local Government Area. According to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the attackers seized 303 students and 12 teachers following a post-attack verification. Authorities describe this as part of a pattern: earlier in the week, 25 schoolgirls were abducted from a girls’ school in neighboring Kebbi State.
The governor of Niger State confirmed that the government had received the distressing report of the kidnappings and expressed “deep sadness” over the incident. This marks the third documented mass abduction in the state in less than a decade; in May 2021, gunmen kidnapped 135 students from a seminary in the same region.
No group has officially claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack. However, analysts and local sources frequently point to heavily armed “bandit” gangs. These groups, often composed of former herders, are known to target schools, remote villages, and travelers — typically seeking ransom.
The trend of escalating violence has triggered international concern. U.S. political figures, including Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz, have accused the Nigerian government of allowing a “Christian genocide,” claims that Abuja vehemently denies In response to the mounting crisis, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu canceled several planned overseas trips to oversee the government’s security response.
Meanwhile, extremist violence continues to compound the problem. The Islamic State’s West Africa Province (IS-WAP) recently claimed responsibility for killing a Nigerian general in the northeast and circulated footage of the attack, alongside alleged WhatsApp messages about a failed rescue mission.
