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Armed men abduct over 200 students, 12 teachers in Nigeria

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 22 November 2025 6:02 AM

Gunmen have stormed a Catholic boarding school in western Nigeria, abducting over 200 schoolchildren and 12 teachers in a large-scale assault.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Friday that the attack and mass abduction occurred at St. Mary's School, a Catholic institution located in the Papiri community of the Agwara local government area.

Attackers seized 215 pupils and students as well as 12 teachers, said Daniel Atori, a spokesperson for the Niger state chapter of CAN.

"I just got back to the village tonight after I visited the school where I also met with parents," Atori said in a statement, quoting Reverend Bulus Dauwa, the CAN chairman in Niger.

The statement added that the association is working "to ensure our children's safe return."

The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora stated that a security staffer was "badly shot" during the attack.

Authorities described St. Mary's as a secondary school, which in Nigeria typically serves children between the ages of 12 and 17.

The Niger State Police Command said the kidnappings took place in the early hours of the day and that military and security forces have since been deployed to the region.

A report released by the secretary to the Niger state government said the abduction occurred despite earlier intelligence warnings of heightened threats.

"Regrettably, St. Mary's School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the state government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk," it read.

Officials, meanwhile, ordered the closure of 47 federal unity colleges, most of them located in conflict-battered northern states.

The unity colleges, a group of elite government-run secondary schools drawing students from across Nigeria, are to be shut down immediately, according to a circular issued by the Federal Ministry of Education.

The abductions took place days after gunmen attacked a high school on Monday and kidnapped 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi state's Maga area, roughly 170 kilometers from Papiri.

In a separate incident on Monday in Kwara state, which borders Niger state, gunmen assaulted a church, killing two people. During the attack, 38 worshipers were also abducted.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Niger, Kebbi, and Kwara, but analysts and residents say criminal gangs frequently target schools, travelers, and remote communities in kidnapping-for-ransom operations.