More than 300 children were kidnapped from Catholic schools

According to a Christian association, more than 300 children were kidnapped in an attack on a Catholic school in Nigeria. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Saturday that armed assailants kidnapped 303 schoolchildren and twelve teachers from St. Mary’s School. Mary in Papiri town in Niger state, Nigeria.

Previously there was talk about 215 children being kidnapped. The information was corrected after a thorough examination and final tally, said the chairman of CAN’s local branch in Niger State, Bulus Dauwa Yohanna. He visited the school after Friday’s attack.

According to police, the attack occurred early Friday morning. The 88 students initially tried to escape, but were later caught by the attackers and taken prisoner. The children are between ten and 18 years old. A security guard was shot. In response to the kidnapping, Nigerian President Bola Tiubu canceled his participation in the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. Many schools have been temporarily closed for security reasons.

Military and other security forces were deployed to affected communities. According to the Niger state government, an increased alert level was in place before the attack. But the school resumed operations without consulting the administration, authorities said. This exposes students and employees to unavoidable risks. The local CAN branch leader, Yohanna, denied the allegations. There was no warning at all, he stressed. Instead, the authorities leveled accusation after incident in order to blame others.

According to children’s charity Unicef ​​last year, only 37 percent of schools in Nigeria’s ten conflict-torn states had early warning systems.

People have been kidnapped repeatedly in northern Nigeria over the years. Dozens of armed groups took advantage of the lack of security presence to attack villages and main roads. They increasingly see kidnapping as a lucrative source of income to finance other crimes and control villages in resource-rich but poorly policed ​​areas of the country. Thousands of people were killed. The gangs camped out in a vast forest area that spanned several states.

On Monday, gang members kidnapped 25 students from a boarding school in Kebbi in the country’s northwest. One of the girls escaped on her own and, according to the principal, returned safely to her family. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the recent kidnappings.

Nigeria is rocked by numerous conflicts between different ethnic groups and populations, of which Christians and Muslims are victims. The most populous country in Africa is divided into a northern region where the majority of the population is Muslim and a southern region where the majority of the population is Christian. Nigerian authorities reject accusations that Christians in the country are being persecuted.

Earlier this month, the US government threatened Nigeria with US military action over alleged targeted killings of Christians. US President Donald Trump claims that Christians face an “existential threat” in Nigeria.