The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has updated the number of pupils and teachers abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, Niger State, to 315, correcting an earlier report of 227
CAN Chairman Bulus Yohanna explained in a Sunday statement that a follow-up verification revealed that pupils previously thought to have escaped were also kidnapped. A detailed census showed that 88 additional students were missing, with parents seeking information about their children.
“After leaving the school, we conducted calls, verification exercises, and further enquiries on those we initially thought had escaped, only to find that 88 more students had been captured while trying to flee. Parents whose children were assumed safe also came looking for them. It was during this census that we discovered they had been abducted. This brings the total to 303 students—both male and female—along with 12 teachers (4 females and 8 males), totaling 315 abducted persons,” Yohanna said.
The attack occurred between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday, with eyewitnesses reporting that gunmen on motorcycles besieged the school to carry out the abductions.
Governor Mohammed Bago’s administration suggested the kidnapping resulted from the school’s disobedience to a government directive to close, but Yohanna dismissed this as false. He said no such circular was received and described the claim as propaganda aimed at shifting blame.
“That is not true. We did not receive any circular. In 2022, when we heard of security threats, we shut down immediately. We are law-abiding; we do not wait for a circular to act,” Yohanna said.
He added that inquiries with the state education secretary and the National Association of Private Schools confirmed that no circular or verbal warning had been issued. “Let them show who received this circular or through what channel it was sent. Claims that the school was recently shut down and reopened are also untrue,” he said.
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