Freedom for about 90 of the more than three hundred students kidnapped on the night between Thursday and Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic school. Mary’s, in the remote community of Papiri, in northern Nigeria. 50 people managed to escape, reported the local Christian Association, which spoke of “good news amidst suffering. The escape apparently occurred when the kidnappers were not paying attention. Another 38 people were freed by Nigerian security forces.
The mass kidnapping, another incident in a region marked by chronic violence, has not been claimed, although the militants appear to be close to Boko Haram. Nigerian authorities have deployed tactical teams and local hunting groups to track down those responsible and ensure the release of the hostages. This is another episode of the crisis that has been blood-soaked in the north of the country for almost twenty years: a jihadist insurgency that has caused more than 40 thousand deaths and forced displacement of two million people.
The spiral of violence knows no bounds. A few days ago, in Ndop, in northwestern Cameroon, six Catholic priests from the Archdiocese of Bamenda were kidnapped by commandos. Even in this case, there are no claims, but there are traces of growing fear in Christian communities living in areas increasingly vulnerable to separatist groups, local militias or criminal gangs exploiting political chaos and institutional fragility.
The growing attacks prompted Pope Leo XIV to launch a public Angelus in St. Peter’s Square. “I feel especially pain for the many kidnapped boys and girls and for their suffering families,” the Pope said at the end of the Mass, asking the kidnappers “for the immediate release of the hostages and I urge the authorities to take adequate and timely decisions to guarantee their release. Let us pray that churches and schools everywhere remain places of safety and hope.” Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu confirmed the rescue of 38 kidnapped devotees in Eruku, Kwara state, and attributed the operation to the continuous efforts of Nigerian security forces in recent days.
The deteriorating situation in West Africa has not escaped Washington’s attention.
After Trump threatened to attack jihadist militias militarily, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth met with Nigeria’s National Security Advisor, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to discuss intelligence sharing, strengthening local forces and cooperation in monitoring armed groups between Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger.
