(ZENIT News / Nigeria, 12.10.2025).- The first rays of relief pierced through weeks of anguish in central Nigeria after officials confirmed the release of one hundred children abducted from a Catholic school in Niger State. Yet the news, celebrated cautiously by Church leaders and humanitarian agencies, underscored a grim reality: more than one hundred other students remain missing, victims of one of the largest mass kidnappings the region has seen in years.
The attack unfolded before dawn on 21 November, when an armed convoy of motorcycles and vehicles swarmed St. Mary’s Catholic School in the rural community of Papiri. Witnesses described an assault carried out with chilling precision. Dormitories were breached, teachers were overpowered, and hundreds of children were herded away in minutes. In total, 303 students and a dozen staff members were seized, according to Church and local reports, making the incident one of the most significant school kidnappings since the harrowing abductions in Chibok and Dapchi.
The government of Nigeria confirmed the first large group of releases on 8 December. Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of Kontagora, whose diocese encompasses Papiri, expressed immediate gratitude but insisted that prayer and advocacy must not wane while so many remain in captivity. Aid to the Church in Need, the global Catholic charity that has closely followed the crisis, issued a renewed appeal for the safe return of the remaining hostages, including teachers and dozens of students believed to be held in forested hideouts.
Authorities have not disclosed the circumstances of the children’s release, nor whether negotiations or ransom payments played a role—an opacity that has become the norm in Nigeria’s repeated cycles of mass abductions. Kidnapping for ransom has evolved into a lucrative industry in the country’s northwest and central belt, where heavily armed criminal networks operate with striking impunity. Arrests following major kidnappings remain rare.
In the days following the Papiri attack, community anxiety deepened as reports emerged of similar assaults in neighboring states. A girls’ boarding school in Kebbi suffered a mass abduction less than a week earlier, while the same month saw 38 worshippers seized from a church in Kwara State. Though those victims were eventually freed, the cluster of incidents has renewed fears of expanding criminal coordination across regions.
Local residents attribute the violence to the armed gangs—known broadly as bandits—that have become a central driver of insecurity in northern Nigeria. While the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram is often associated with earlier school kidnappings, including the infamous 2014 Chibok abduction, analysts note that today’s perpetrators are far more decentralized, opportunistic, and financially motivated.
Nonetheless, memories of those earlier tragedies remain painfully fresh. Aid to the Church in Need, recalling the country’s collective trauma, highlighted the enduring symbolism of Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi schoolgirl who refused to abandon her Christian faith when ordered to convert by Boko Haram captors in 2018. She was the only abducted student not released, and her fate remains unknown. Church leaders invoked her story anew as families in Papiri confront their own agonizing uncertainty.
International pressure has also intensified. Reports in Abuja indicate that U.S. President Donald Trump has personally urged Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to take stronger and more transparent action in protecting Christian communities, which have been frequent targets in northern states. Tinubu, facing a national security crisis that has eroded public confidence, pledged to pursue the abductors and secure the release of every last hostage.
For the families of Papiri, the road to recovery is only beginning. Children who escaped or were freed have returned home carrying deep emotional scars, and educators warn that repeated attacks are discouraging school attendance across entire regions. The assault on St. Mary’s, like others before it, threatens the fragile progress made in girls’ education, a sector already strained by cultural, economic, and security barriers.
As night falls over the quiet farming communities of Niger State, parents continue to gather for vigils, clutching rosaries, Qur’ans, and small photographs of their missing children. The release of one hundred captives has given them reason to hope. But in a country still wrestling with unchecked violence, fractured governance, and criminal impunity, hope remains a fragile companion.
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