(ZENIT News / Nigeria, 12.23.2025).- The gates of St. Mary’s Catholic school in rural Niger State have not yet reopened to normal life, but for dozens of families across central Nigeria, this Christmas arrives with an unexpected gift: their children are coming home.
Nigerian authorities confirmed on 21 December that the final group of students and staff abducted from the Catholic boarding school in Papiri last month has been released, bringing to a close one of the largest school kidnappings the country has witnessed in recent years. Around 130 people, including pupils and members of staff, regained their freedom after weeks in captivity, ending an ordeal that had drawn national and international attention.
The attack took place in the early hours of 21 November, when armed men stormed St. Mary’s, overwhelming security and seizing hundreds of students and teachers. In the confusion that followed, dozens managed to flee into the surrounding countryside, while others were released in stages over subsequent weeks. Yet a substantial group remained unaccounted for, prolonging the anguish of families and church authorities alike.
According to government spokesmen, the final release resulted from a military intelligence–led operation, though, as is customary in such cases, officials offered no details. The students were expected to be transferred to Minna, the state capital, where reunions with parents were planned just days before Christmas celebrations. The presidency insisted that no one remained in captivity.
The lack of transparency, however, has done little to dispel lingering doubts. Nigerian police initially acknowledged that further information would be forthcoming regarding several missing individuals, and past experience has taught communities to treat official figures with caution. In the chaos of mass abductions, some students escape independently, others are hidden in remote villages, and confirmation often arrives slowly.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Papiri kidnapping. Locals and security analysts point instead to the armed criminal networks that now operate across much of northern and central Nigeria. These groups, often described as bandits, have turned schoolchildren and travelers into commodities, exploiting weak security, vast rural territories, and impoverished communities to extract ransoms.
The St. Mary’s abduction did not occur in isolation. It formed part of a broader surge in mass kidnappings that has plagued Nigeria in recent months, including similar attacks in neighboring Kebbi State and the abduction of worshippers from a church in Kwara State, all of whom were later released. Each incident reinforces a grim pattern: swift assaults, prolonged negotiations conducted largely out of public view, and eventual releases accompanied by official silence.
That silence fuels speculation. While Nigerian authorities consistently deny paying ransoms, arrests are rare, prosecutions rarer still, and the economic logic of the kidnappings remains intact. Security experts widely believe that financial settlements, whether directly or through intermediaries, continue to underpin many of these “rescues.”
For President Bola Tinubu, the resolution of the St. Mary’s case offers temporary relief amid mounting pressure over the country’s security crisis. International scrutiny has intensified, particularly following accusations from abroad that Christian communities are disproportionately targeted. The government rejects claims of religious persecution, framing the violence instead as criminal opportunism in a fragile security environment.
For the Catholic Church in Nigeria, the episode reopens painful questions about the safety of faith-based institutions and the pastoral care of traumatized communities. Bishops and clergy have repeatedly warned that schools and parishes are increasingly vulnerable, even as they continue to serve populations with few alternatives.
This release closes a chapter, but it does not resolve the deeper crisis that made their abduction possible. Until Nigeria can break the cycle of kidnappings-for-profit, each reunion risks becoming merely an interlude before the next night raid, the next set of grieving parents, and the next school forced into silence.
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