CaliToday (23/11/2025): The stability of Nigeria's volatile security landscape has been shattered by a devastating mass abduction, with over 300 schoolchildren and teachers seized from a Catholic institution in Niger state on Friday. The attack on St. Mary's Primary and Secondary School in the Papiri community, if confirmed, represents one of the largest school kidnappings in the nation's history, immediately drawing comparisons to the infamous 2014 Chibok girls tragedy.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed the terrifying scale of the attack, reporting that 303 pupils and 12 teachers were taken by armed men. This incident caps a week of relentless violence, marking the third major mass abduction targeting both Christian and Muslim communities across the country.
A Week of Terror: The Escalating Kidnap Economy
The St. Mary's abduction follows a shocking series of events that highlight Nigeria's spiraling 'kidnap-for-ransom' epidemic:
Monday (Kebbi): 25 Muslim school girls were kidnapped, and the school's Vice Principal was killed.
Monday (Zamfara): 64 people were abducted from their homes.
Tuesday (Kwara): A live stream captured a deadly attack on a Christ Apostolic Church, leaving two dead and over 30 people missing. Kidnappers later demanded a massive ransom of approximately $69,000 per person.
Experts emphasize that while some groups are motivated by religious extremism (like Boko Haram and ISWAP), the current wave of mass abductions is largely driven by "criminal gangs," known locally as "bandits." These groups target schools, which are often poorly secured, because mass victim counts increase the likelihood of substantial government or community ransom payments.
“Everybody is weak... it took everybody by surprise,” said Dominic Adamu, a local resident whose daughters attend the school but were not abducted, speaking to the BBC.
Government Response and International Heat
The crisis has forced significant domestic and international reactions.
Domestic Action: Following the abduction, Niger State Governor Umaru Bago immediately ordered the closure of all schools in the state, effectively declaring an early Christmas holiday until further notice.
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu demonstrated the gravity of the crisis by cancelling his planned attendance at the G20 summit in South Africa. He has directed security agencies to "respond with urgency, clarity, and decisive action" and called for community cooperation and intelligence sharing to locate the missing children.
US Pressure and Religious Freedom: The timing of the St. Mary's attack coincided with high-level meetings in the United States, where Nigerian National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau to discuss security cooperation.
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| Amina Hassan, wife of the vice principal of the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, where gunmen on Monday attacked the school dormitory, abducted schoolgirls and killed her husband, stands in front of the room where he was killed, in Kebbi, Nigeria, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Tunde Omolehin—Associated Press |
The latest violence, especially against a Christian institution, is likely to intensify pressure from the US, particularly from President Donald Trump. On November 2nd, Trump signaled possible "guns-a-blazing" military action and threatened to cut all US aid if the Nigerian government failed to stop the violence against Christians, posting on Truth Social that Nigeria should be designated a "country of particular concern."
While Trump and figures like US rapper Nicki Minaj, who recently spoke at a UN event titled "Combating Christian Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria," focus on the plight of Christians, statistics from the Council on Foreign Relations confirm that violence affects both Christian and Muslim populations in large numbers, despite the documented anti-Christian atrocities by jihadist groups.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the St. Mary's abduction, but the sheer scale of the incident underscores the urgent failure to contain the widespread kidnapping epidemic threatening the future and stability of Nigeria.