“The Secretary of the Niger State Government said that during the armed attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School, the attackers kidnapped more than 200 students and 12 teachers. He emphasized that the school administration resumed the educational process despite intelligence warnings about a high level of terrorist threat.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Illustrative photo: Getty Images Source: The Associated Press
Details: The incident that shook the country happened in the village of Papiri. Eyewitnesses and relatives of the missing report chaos and despair among the local population.
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The Secretary to the Niger State Government, in a statement, stressed that the abduction was made possible because the school continued to operate despite warnings from the authorities.
“Unfortunately, St. Mary’s continued with the learning process without obtaining permission from the state government, thereby exposing students and staff to an avoidable risk,” the statement said.
A resident of Papiri, Umar Yunus, said that at the time of the attack, only local security guards were providing security at the school, while there were no official units of the police or government forces.
Meanwhile, authorities have closed 47 federal unity colleges (a group of elite public schools), mostly located in northern states.
The attack was part of a series of brutal crimes that have swept the region in recent days. The abduction in Papiri comes just days after an incident in neighboring Kebbi state, where gunmen attacked a secondary school in Maga town and abducted 25 schoolgirls.
In Kwara State, militants attacked a church, killing two people. The secretary of the Apostolic Church of Christ, Femi Agbabiaka, said that 38 believers were kidnapped during this attack, and now the kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 100 million naira ($69,000) for each hostage.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Niger and Kebbi states. However, analysts and local residents point out that such actions are characteristic of criminal gangs, which often kidnap people for ransom.
The wave of kidnappings is a sign of deep instability in Africa’s most populous country. Since Boko Haram jihadists abducted 276 schoolgirls from Chibok more than a decade ago, at least 1,500 students have been abducted in the region.
The situation in Nigeria has also attracted international attention, in particular after former US President Donald Trump’s statements about the persecution of Christians in that country – a charge that the Nigerian government rejects. Analysts point out that while Christians do fall victim to attacks, most of the victims at the hands of the militants are Muslims from the north of the country, where they make up the majority of the population and where most of the attacks take place.
Experts see the cause of the crisis as the failure of the authorities to bring the attackers to justice and the flourishing corruption that allows the gangs to obtain weapons without hindrance.