Fifty schoolchildren abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri community, Niger State, have escaped captivity and reunited with their families, even as 253 students and 12 teachers remain in the custody of their abductors.
The development was announced on Sunday by Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State and proprietor of the school, marking the first major breakthrough since the mass abduction shocked the world on Friday.
“We have received some good news as 50 pupils escaped and have reunited with their parents,” said Daniel Atori, the media aide to CAN Chairman, who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese.
“The pupils escaped between Friday and Saturday and have reunited with their parents as they could not return to the school after they escaped. We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” the statement read.
“Note that, in the primary section out of the total number of 430 pupils we have in the school, 377 of them are boarders and the remaining 53 others are non boarders.
“Currently, aside the 50 pupils that escaped and have returned home, we have 141 pupils who were not carried away. As it stands now, we have 236 pupils, another 3 children who belong to our staff, 14 Secondary students making a total 253 children including 12 members of staff with the abductors.”
He stated that Bishop Yohanna who is also the Proprietor of the school and Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese gave the update.
He also called for calm, seeking prayers for the successful rescue of the remaining victims.
“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.
“I want to call on everyone to remain calm and prayerful as we will continue to actively collaborate with security operatives, community leaders, government and relevant authorities for the safe and quick return of all abductees.
“May the Lord grant quick release to those abducted and continue to protect his people from all dangers.”
Over 300 students were abducted when terrorists invaded the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri in the Agwarra local government area of Niger State.
Although initial report put the number of abducted pupils at 227, CAN put the total number of victims abducted by suspected terrorists at 315.
A breakdown of newly released data showed that 303 students and 12 teachers were affected.
“After we left the school at Papiri, we decided to make calls, do a verification exercise, and do further enquiries on those we had thought escaped successfully, only to discover that 88 more students were also captured after they tried to escape.
“Our attention was drawn to when some parents whose children we had thought escaped from the attack also came asking about their children. We became curious, and that was when we did a census and discovered that they were abducted”, Bishop Yohanna stated.
