50 of 303 kidnapped Nigerian students escape captivity; The remaining children and teachers are still missing.

Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said on Sunday, bringing relief to some distraught families after one of the largest school abductions in Nigerian history.

The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, according to Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and owner of the school. In total, 253 schoolchildren and 12 teachers are still being held by the kidnappers, he said in a statement.

“We were able to see this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” Yohanna said.

The pupils and students were captured along with their teachers by gunmen who attacked St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in the remote Papiri community of Niger State, on Friday. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and authorities have said tactical squads along with local hunters have been deployed to rescue the children.

It was not immediately clear where the Niger State children were being held or how they managed to return to their homes. Nigeria’s military and police did not immediately respond to an News investigation.

“While we welcome the return of these 50 escaped children with a sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims,” ​​Yohanna said.

Pope Leo XIV called for the immediate release of the schoolchildren and school staff and said at the end of a mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.

“I feel great pain, especially for the many girls and boys who have been kidnapped and for their distraught families,” the pontiff said. “I sincerely call for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”

All schools in Niger state were ordered closed on Saturday in response to the abductions, News partner BBC reported. Dominic Adamu, whose daughters are students at St. Mary’s School but were not kidnapped, told the outlet that the attack “took everyone by surprise.”

“Everyone is weak,” Adamu said, according to the BBC.

Another woman, who was not identified by name, told the outlet that her 6- and 13-year-old nieces had been kidnapped from school, adding, “I just want them to go home.”

The attack in Niger state occurred four days after 25 schoolchildren were captured in similar circumstances in the town of Maga in neighboring Kebbi state, which is 170 kilometers away.

Both states are located in a region of northern Nigeria where dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as a way to dominate remote communities with little government or security presence.

The satellite image shows that the Niger State school compound is attached to an adjacent primary school, with more than 50 classrooms and dormitory buildings. It is situated near a major road linking the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa.

School abductions have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, with armed gangs often seeing schools as “strategic” targets to attract more attention.

Niger state hastily closed all schools after Friday’s attack, while the Nigerian government also closed some federal universities in troubled areas of the region.

“I won’t regret it”

The kidnappings come against the backdrop of President Trump’s claims of “Christian persecution” in the West African country. The attacks in Nigeria affect both Christians and Muslims. The school attack earlier this week in Kebbi state occurred in a Muslim-majority town.

Arrests are rare and ransom payments are common in many of the trouble spots in northern Nigeria.

Confidence McHarry, a security analyst at Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence, said that while there is little evidence that Trump’s comments could have inspired gunmen to launch more attacks in the hope that greater attention would lead to higher ransoms, “the lack of consequences is what is fueling these attacks.”

In a statement celebrating the freedom of some of those held captive in Niger and Kebbi states, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said his government will not relent until all hostages are freed.

“Let me be clear: I will not relent. Every Nigerian, in every state, has the right to security, and under my watch, we will protect this nation and our people,” he added.