Nigeria suffered one of its worst mass kidnappings when gunmen abducted over 300 schoolchildren in Niger state in central Nigeria on Friday amid security concerns.
It was previously estimated that 227 students had been kidnapped. However, the Christian Association of Nigeria on Saturday put the number of students and teachers abducted from St Mary’s Catholic coeeduated school at 315.
The Christian Association of Nigeria said a verification exercise revealed that another 88 students were captured after they tried to escape.
“This now stands at 303 students (and) … 12 teachers, bringing the total number of abductees to 315,” she said in a statement.
No group has yet claimed responsibility.
On Monday, gunmen stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state and kidnapped 25 girls.
The two kidnappings have come since US President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he called the killing of Christians by radical Islamists in Nigeria.
Although the Nigerian government has not commented on the number of students and teachers abducted, it is almost half of the school’s student population (629).
The intelligence department and police were “conducting a head count” and the number would be released by the end of the day, the AP reported, citing Niger state governor Mohammed Umar Bago as telling reporters.
As a precautionary measure, Bago, whose government has ordered the closure of some schools, has also ordered the closure of all schools in its state.
The National Ministry of Education also ordered the closure of 47 boarding high schools across the country.
President Bola Tinubu has canceled international commitments, including attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to deal with the crisis.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said in a statement that during talks with Nigeria’s national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Abuja to “take both urgent and sustained action to stop the violence against Christians.”
Nigeria is still scarred by the abduction of nearly 300 girls by Boko Haram jihadists in Chibok, northeastern Borno state more than a decade ago. Some of those girls are still missing.
