In a recent incident that has heightened tensions between the United States and Nigeria, 303 students and 12 teachers were kidnapped from a Christian school in Nigeria. The abduction took place at St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution located in north-central Nigeria, marking another episode in the ongoing wave of Islamic violence against Christians in the country, as reported by the Christian Association of Nigeria.
Initial reports suggested that 215 students, both boys and girls aged between 10 and 18, were kidnapped. However, the count was later revised to 303 after it was discovered that 88 children, initially believed to have escaped, were in fact captured by the armed assailants.
The revised count was confirmed after a thorough verification process and a final census, as stated by Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria. This incident is now considered the largest abduction case in Nigeria’s history, surpassing the infamous Chibok mass abduction in 2014, where 276 government school students were kidnapped, and the March 2024 attack where 287 students were taken from a state-run school by Islamic extremists.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, 25 schoolgirls were kidnapped from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in northwestern Kebbi state, approximately 106 miles away from the St. Mary’s School abduction. No group has claimed responsibility for either of these mass abductions.
State officials in Niger have claimed that St. Mary’s School disregarded orders to shut down all boarding facilities following intelligence warnings of potential attacks. Despite these warnings, the school resumed academic activities without seeking clearance from the State Government, thereby putting students and staff at risk.
In response to the abductions, Nigeria has deployed its tactical military units in the region to attempt to rescue the kidnapped children, who are believed to be held for ransom. The situation remains uncertain, with limited information available about the whereabouts of the children.
School kidnappings have become a significant security concern in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. According to human rights NGO Intersociety, over 7,000 Christians have been killed by radical Islamists in the first 220 days of this year alone. Since 2009, when the terror group Boko Haram initiated an insurgency in Nigeria, more than 125,000 Christians have been killed and 19,000 churches destroyed.
The ongoing violence has drawn international attention, with former U.S. President Trump threatening to intervene if the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians. The abduction occurred during a meeting between Nigeria’s National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Washington, DC.