Fifty of the more than 300 students abducted from a Catholic school in northern Nigeria last week have escaped and reunited with their families, church officials said on Sunday, as pressure mounts on authorities to secure the release of the remaining captives.
The Christian Association of Nigeria said about 253 children and 12 staff members from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state are still being held by the gunmen who stormed the institution on Friday.
Bulus Yohanna, CAN chairman and a Catholic Bishop who owns the school, said the pupils escaped in two batches on Friday and Saturday.
Parents rushed to the school upon hearing news of the escape, hoping their children were among those freed.
“Unfortunately, they were not among the escapees,” said Amose Ibrahim, who has three children still missing, including his six-year-old. “Many parents and their loved ones are roaming around the school.”
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President Bola Tinubu on Sunday ordered the recruitment of 30,000 additional police officers following a meeting with security chiefs. He also directed that police assigned to VIP protection duties be withdrawn and redeployed to vulnerable areas frequently targeted by armed groups.
The kidnapping at St. Mary’s is the latest in a string of mass abductions that have forced some northern states to shut down schools. Authorities have also ordered the closure of 47 colleges across the region.
Nigeria is facing heightened international scrutiny after U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month threatened possible military action over attacks targeting Christians.
Pope Leo appealed on Sunday for the unconditional release of all the St. Mary’s captives, describing the abductions as one of the worst recorded in Nigeria’s history.
“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages,” he said during mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
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