ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic college in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and are actually with their households, the varsity authority stated Sunday, because the pope known as for the rapid launch of these nonetheless lacking.
The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, in keeping with the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Affiliation of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the varsity.
A complete of 253 schoolchildren and 12 lecturers are nonetheless being held by the abductors, Yohanna stated in an announcement. “We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” he added.
In the meantime, 38 worshippers kidnapped throughout a lethal church assault in central Nigeria’s Kwara state have regained their freedom, Kwara Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq stated in an announcement.
Gunmen had attacked the Christ Apostolic Church in Kwara’s Eruku city on Tuesday, killing two folks and taking others hostage. Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, in a separate assertion, attributed the liberty of the worshippers to “the efforts of security agencies” with out giving additional particulars.
Pope ‘deeply saddened’
Simone Risoluti/Vatican Pool through Getty Photographs
The Niger state pupils and college students have been seized along with their lecturers by gunmen who attacked the St. Mary’s Faculty, a Catholic establishment in Niger state’s distant Papiri neighborhood, on Friday.
No group has but claimed duty for the abductions and Nigerian authorities haven’t shared any replace on rescue efforts. It was not instantly clear the place the Niger state youngsters have been being held or how they managed to return dwelling.
The Niger state college is positioned close to a significant highway linking the cities of Yelwa and Mokwa, and is in a area of Nigeria the place armed gangs usually function out of huge forests that join totally different states and battle sizzling spots.
“As much as we receive the return of these 50 children that escaped with some sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue in your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims,” the Yohanna stated.
Pope Leo XIV known as for the rapid launch of the schoolchildren and employees of the varsity, saying on the finish of a mass in St. Peter’s sq. on Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.
“I feel great sorrow, especially for the many girls and boys who have been abducted and for their anguished families,” the pontiff stated. “I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”
Kidnapping for ransom
Ifeanyi Immanuel Bakwenye/AFP through Getty Photographs
Faculty kidnappings have come to outline insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs usually see faculties as “strategic” targets to attract extra consideration. At the very least 1,500 college students have been seized in Nigeria for the reason that well-known kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls greater than a decade in the past, and most of the youngsters have been launched solely after ransoms have been paid.
The Niger state assault occurred 4 days after 25 schoolchildren have been seized in comparable circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga city, which is 170 kilometers (106 miles) away.
Each states are in a northern area of Nigeria the place dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as a technique of dominating distant communities with little authorities and safety presence.
Niger state hurriedly closed down all faculties after Friday’s assault, whereas some federal faculties in battle hotspots throughout the area have been additionally closed by the Nigerian authorities.
‘I will not relent’
Sunday Alamba through Related Press
The kidnappings are taking place on the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of “Christian persecution” within the West African nation. Assaults in Nigeria have an effect on each Christians and Muslims. The varsity assault earlier this week in Kebbi state was in a Muslim-majority city.
Arrests are uncommon and ransom funds are widespread in most of the sizzling spots in northern Nigeria.
Confidence McHarry, a safety analyst at Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence, stated that whereas there’s little proof that Trump’s feedback might need impressed the gunmen to launch extra assaults within the hope that extra consideration would deliver increased ransoms, “the absence of consequences is what is fuelling these attacks.”
In an announcement welcoming the liberty of a few of these kidnapped in Niger state and Kebbi state, Tinubu stated his authorities is not going to relent till each hostage is freed.
“Let me be clear: I will not relent. Every Nigerian, in every state, has the right to safety — and under my watch, we will secure this nation and protect our people,” he added.
