The Federal Government has secured the release of one hundred pupils abducted from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State.
News of the abduction had circulated on Sunday through multiple broadcast reports, although federal authorities had not issued an official confirmation as of press time.
The pupils were taken when armed men invaded the remote community on November 21, riding in on motorbikes around 2 am and operating for nearly three hours.
They abducted 315 people, including 303 students and 12 teachers.
About 50 pupils managed to escape within the first 24 hours and were reunited with their families, leaving 265 victims in captivity.
The incident adds to the recent surge of mass abductions across several states, underscoring the worsening security challenge facing the nation. With a new Minister of Defence now in office, expectations are high for swift, decisive action to curb these attacks and restore public confidence in the country’s security architecture.