A group of armed men abducted students from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, a government official confirmed Friday.
“The Niger State Government has received the disturbing news of the abduction of pupils from St. Mary’s School in Agwara Local Government Area,” Abubakar Usman, Secretary to the State Government, said in a statement.
Nigerian TV station Arise TV, quoted by Reuters, said 52 students were abducted from a school in Niger state, but a government official did not provide a number.
“The exact number of students abducted is yet to be confirmed as security agencies are assessing the situation,” Usman said.
How have Nigerian authorities responded to the kidnapping?
Niger state police said they had received a report at about 2 a.m. (0100 GMT) that “some armed bandits attacked St. Mary’s Private (Catholic) Secondary School… and abducted an unknown number of students from the school’s hostel.”
Tactical police units and military forces were deployed.
Security forces are on high alert after recent attacks and kidnapping incidents.
Police said they were “searching the forests with the aim of rescuing the abducted students.”
Why is Nigerian security under so much scrutiny?
Friday’s kidnapping follows an attack on Monday, in which 25 girls were abducted from a boarding school in Kebbi state.
The incident forced President Bola Tinubu to cancel his foreign trips to deal with the fallout.
A separate attack on a church in western Nigeria on Tuesday was broadcast live. Two people were killed and dozens were believed to have been abducted.
US President Trump’s threat to take military action in Nigeria has heightened the discussion on Nigeria’s security situation after he said without providing evidence that thousands of Christians have been killed.
Nigeria, which is largely divided between Muslims and Christians, has rejected the accusation of religious persecution.
Edited by: Sam Dusan Inayatullah