The Federal Government has secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted from St Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, in Agwara Local Council, Niger State.

Bandits had attacked the school on November 21, 2025, arriving around 2:00 a.m. on motorbikes and operating for about three hours. They stormed the dormitories and abducted 315 people: 303 students and 12 teachers from the remote Papiri community.Security forces and community hunters were subsequently deployed to comb surrounding forests in search of the abductees.

Fifty pupils escaped within the first 24 hours and were reunited with their families. However, 265 people, including 253 children and all 12 teachers, remained in captivity.