ABUJA, Nigeria — Fifty of the 303 students abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic school in Niger state have escaped and are now back with their families, church and school officials said Sunday. The students, aged about 10 to 18, freed themselves one by one between Friday and Saturday, Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and proprietor of the school, said in a statement.
Yohanna said 253 pupils and 12 teachers remain in the hands of kidnappers after gunmen stormed the remote Papiri community school on Friday. Authorities have not said where the captives are being held, and no group has claimed responsibility for the raid.
Security forces have deployed tactical squads and local volunteer hunters to try to locate and rescue the victims, but it remained unclear how the 50 children managed to make it home or where the others were taken. Nigeria’s military and police did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press.
Yohanna expressed cautious relief at the return of the escaped pupils and asked the public to continue praying for the safe recovery of those still held.
The mass abduction in Niger state came days after another incident in neighboring Kebbi state, where 25 schoolchildren were seized in Maga town. Both states are in northern Nigeria, a region where numerous armed gangs use kidnappings for ransom and exert control over sparsely policed communities.
Satellite imagery shows St. Mary’s compound sits next to a primary school and contains more than 50 classroom and dormitory buildings near a main road linking Yelwa and Mokwa. Attacks on schools have become a recurring feature of insecurity in Nigeria, with kidnappers targeting educational institutions to attract attention and extract payments.
In response to Friday’s attack, Niger state ordered the closure of all schools, and the federal government directed closures at some colleges in conflict-affected areas. Local and national officials continue efforts to track and free the remaining students and staff.