Armed assailants attacked a Catholic boarding school in western Nigeria early Friday, kidnapping several children and staff members, days after 25 schoolgirls were abducted from a neighbouring state and 38 church worshippers were kidnapped in another.
Friday’s attack occurred at St. Mary’s School in Agwara Local Government’s Papiri community, Abubakar Usman, the secretary to the Niger State Government, said in a Facebook statement.
He did not share the number of students and staff kidnapped or who could be responsible for the attack.
Local media broadcaster Arise TV said 52 schoolchildren were abducted, The Associated Press reported. Nigerian authorities have not confirmed the numbers.
Military security forces and tactical units were deployed to the scene early Friday, Niger State Police said in a statement, describing the institution as a secondary school educating children aged 12 to 17.
Police received reports of “armed bandits” entering the school around 2 a.m., according to the statement.
Satellite images of the school, reviewed by the AP, show that the St. Mary’s campus is connected to an adjoining primary school building and is located near a main road linking the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa.
According to Usman, the school failed to heed a warning of heightened threats, which he wrote included a clear directive to “suspend all construction activities and to temporarily close all boarding schools within the affected zone as a precautionary measure.”
“Regrettably, St. Mary’s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the State Government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,” his statement continued.
He urged schools, community leaders and all stakeholders to “adhere strictly to security advisories issued in the interest of public safety,” saying, “the protection of lives, especially those of our children, remains the utmost priority of this administration.”
According to the AP, Umar Yunus, a Papiri resident, said there were only local security arrangements and no official police or government forces securing the school during Friday’s attack.
On the same day, in a separate statement following the incident, Usman said the government had “activated all necessary security measures to ensure the safe return of the abducted students and to prevent future occurrences.”
The abductions in Niger state happened days after gunmen attacked the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in neighbouring Kebbi state, about 170 km from Papiri, and kidnapped 25 female students.
One of the girls escaped and is safe, according to the AP. The school’s vice-principal was killed in the incident, according to the First Lady of Kebbi state, Nasare Muhammed Nasir.
In a statement on her official Instagram page, she wrote, “This heartbreaking incident is a painful reminder of the challenges we continue to face as a nation and as mothers.”
According to local media reports, her husband, Kebbi State Gov. Mohammed Nasir Idris, accused unnamed security agencies of failing to act on intelligence from the Department of State Services that uncovered a plan to target the school.
Nigerian news outlet Premium Times reported that the governor, during a visit to the school in Kebbi state, said, “This is clear sabotage. We received credible intelligence from the DSS that this school was likely to be attacked. The DSS further advised that we convene an emergency Security Council meeting, which we did. The decision was that we would provide round-the-clock protection for the students.”
In her statement, Nasare Muhammed Nasir wrote that she “stands firmly” with Gov. Nasir Idris, as he navigates efforts to “ensure the safe and timely rescue of all the abducted schoolgirls.”
In another violent raid on Monday in Kwara state, which borders Niger state, armed assailants attacked a church, killing two worshippers and abducting 38 churchgoers, Femi Agbabiaka, secretary of the Christ Apostolic Church, told The Associated Press on Friday.
He said the armed men are demanding a ransom of 100 million naira ($69,000) for each of the abductees.
— With files from The Associated Press