TheNumber of abducted students and teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state, Nigeria, on Friday has been put at 315.
According to information released by CAN, 303 students and 12 teachers have been taken into captivity.
The Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) Niger state who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, Most Reverend Bulus Dauwa Johanna gave the update after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out.
In a statement signed by his Media Aide, Daniel Atori in Minna Saturday, the CAN Chairman also denied of any official letter written to the school advising to close down based on insecurity.
Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna said “after we left the school at Papiri, we decided to make calls, do verification exercise and do further enquiries on those we had thought escaped only to discover that 88 more students were also captured after they tried to escape.
“Our attention was drawn to when some parents whose children we had thought escaped from the attack also came asking of their children. We became curious and that was when we did census and discovered that they were abducted.
“This now makes it 303 students (male and female) including 12 teachers (4 females and 8 males) bringing the total to number of abducted persons to 315. The total of pupils and students is 629 with primary having 430 and the secondary 199 students,” he declared.
The CAN Chairman also said there was the need to put records straight concerning the purported letter written to the school to shut down the school based on insecurity.
“On getting back to the village after I visited the school where I also met with parents of the children to assure them that we are working with the government and Security agencies to see that our children are rescued and brought back safely, I got an information which I term propaganda that the school was given a prior warning by the government through a circular.
“That is not true. We did not receive any circular; it must be an after thought and a way to shift blame. In the past, around 2022 when we heard of rumours of security challenge, we did not hesitate, we shutdown immediately. Is it when there is a circular from the government asking us to shutdown that we will now not obey?
“The school is owned by the Catholic Diocese and not by any individual. None of the Reverend Sisters travelled to Abuja as they alleged. Whoever made that misleading statement should know that it is a false allegation and should withdraw such or provide the proofs and evidences,” he said.
Meanwhile, Security forces, including the military and police, have been deployed to rescue the victims, and a full-scale investigation is underway.
The Niger State Government, however, claims it had issued a directive to close boarding schools in the area due to security concerns, but St. Mary’s School allegedly ignored the order.
But the Catholic Diocese has denied receiving any government order to close the school, suggesting the state government is trying to shift blame.
The attack, which occurred in the early hours of Friday, has raised questions about security measures in place to protect schools, particularly after a similar incident in neighboring Kebbi state earlier this week where 25 schoolgirls were abducted.
This incident is part of a growing trend of school abductions in Nigeria, highlighting the country’s ongoing security challenges.