Nigeria is reeling after one of the country’s worst-ever school kidnappings.
More than 300 children and staff are now believed to have been abducted by gunmen from St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger state.
The number is even higher than the infamous Chibok abduction.
The Christian Association of Nigeria says 303 students and 12 teachers were taken, a figure revised upward after a fresh headcount.
The attack happened around 2am, when armed men stormed the boarding school.
“Everybody is weak… it took everybody by surprise,” said Dominic Adamu, a parent whose daughters narrowly escaped.
Another woman, in tears, pleaded: “I just want them to come home.”
Escalating School Abductions
Security forces say they are combing nearby forests, but the sheer scale of the abduction has shocked the nation.
Officials revealed the school ignored warnings to close boarding facilities amid rising threats—an oversight they say exposed students to “avoidable risk.”
Kidnappings for ransom—carried out by gangs known as bandits—have surged, despite laws banning ransom payments.
Friday’s abduction is the third major attack in a single week.
It is part of a wider pattern of insecurity that has forced school closures across multiple states.
As President Bola Tinubu cancels foreign trips to confront the crisis, Nigerians are demanding real solutions.
Because at this point, the country isn’t just losing children—it’s losing faith in its own safety net.
