Scores of Students Abducted From Catholic School in Nigeria as Christian Attacks Surge

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

ABUJA (Worthy News) – At least scores of students were abducted from a Catholic mission school in Nigeria’s troubled North Central region early Friday, just days after gunmen attacked a church, killing two people and taking dozens of worshippers hostage, officials and witnesses said.

Suspected Muslim gunmen, locally known as “bandits,” stormed St. Mary Primary and Secondary School in the Papiri ward of the Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State at 3:00 a.m. local time, rounding up boys and girls from their dorms before fleeing into nearby bushland, according to residents and security sources.

Several Nigerian media outlets and a Christian source known to Worthy News said more than 100 students were kidnapped, while other sources spoke of at least 52 student hostages. The discrepancy could not be immediately reconciled, as parents, staff, and security officials were still compiling lists of missing children.

The school, operating for more than 50 years, offers both day and boarding systems and is locally regarded as one of the region’s most reputable Christian educational institutions.

WHO IS BEHIND THE ATTACK?

Local officials and analysts say the attackers were part of armed Fulani-linked criminal groups and Islamist-aligned factions that have increasingly targeted Christian communities, mission schools, and rural settlements. These groups carry out ransom kidnappings that help finance their operations, intimidate Christian communities in mixed-faith regions, and forcibly displace villagers from farmland and strategic roads.

Security analysts warn that some of the criminal groups described as “bandits” maintain informal ties to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram, both of which have repeatedly targeted Christian schools.

Nigeria has recorded more than 50 mass school kidnappings since Boko Haram abducted the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, creating what authorities describe as a lucrative and deeply entrenched kidnapping industry.

Officials say the attackers are motivated by ransom demands, territorial control, and efforts to weaken the Christian presence in contested regions.

MORE CHRISTIAN TARGETS HIT

Friday’s abduction followed an earlier attack on the Christ Apostolic Church in central Kwara State, where armed men killed two people and abducted 38 congregants during a worship service, according to state officials.

Just hours before the church raid, another armed group stormed a girls’ school in Kebbi State and seized 25 students, authorities confirmed.

It was unclear how many of those victims were Christians, though Christian pupils have frequently been singled out in previous abduction cases.

Friday’s kidnapping was the first mass school abduction since March 2024, when more than 200 students were taken in Kaduna State.

NIGERIA RANKS ‘MOST DANGEROUS’

Nigeria currently ranks 7th on the annual Open Doors World Watch List, which tracks global Christian persecution.

The advocacy organization says the high ranking reflects systematic killings of Christians by Islamist extremists and associated criminal groups, widespread abductions from churches and Christian-run schools, and the destruction of Christian farms, villages, and places of worship.

It also reports a persistent lack of effective government action to prevent or prosecute such attacks in rural Christian communities.

Non-governmental organizations such as the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) estimate that more than 7,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria in the first seven months of 2025, and over 50,000 since 2009.

NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT PRESSURED

This week’s surge in violence increased pressure on Nigeria’s government after U.S. President Donald J. Trump warned of possible American action over what Washington has described as the “systematic persecution” of Christians in Africa’s most populous nation.

With international scrutiny mounting and anti-Christian attacks spreading across northern and central regions, President Bola Tinubu postponed planned foreign trips to address the worsening security crisis.

Nigerian authorities said search-and-rescue operations were underway in Niger, Kwara, and Kebbi states, although previous mass abductions have often concluded with ransom payments. That has fueled concerns among Christian leaders and rights activists that criminal and jihadist groups are acting with growing impunity.

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