NIGERIA: MORE THAN 300 KIDNAPPED FROM A GIRLS’ SCHOOL

On Friday, 21 November 2025, more than 300 schoolgirls and 12 teachers were taken from St Mary’s School in Niger State in northwest Nigeria. Over the weekend, 50 girls managed to escape.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Friday morning. St. Mary’s, a Catholic School, is located in the Papiri community in Agwara Local Government Area (LGA). Initially it was thought that 227 children, including teachers were taken, however the number increased after a roll call. 

“This now makes it 303 students (and) … 12 teachers, bringing the total number of abducted persons to 315,” the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said in a statement, adding the new figure included 88 students who had been captured as they tried to escape.
 

50 schoolgirls, aged between 10 and 18, were able to escape between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of CAN in Niger state and the proprietor of the school. 253 of the kidnapped children, along with 12 staff members and teachers, are still held captive, Yohanna said.

This is the largest school kidnapping to date in Nigeria. Kidnappings for ransom have become a popular means to terrorise and impoverish communities. However, former Minister of Information, Jerry Gana is of the opinion that there is a more sinister motive behind the kidnappings. 

According to the former minister, the sudden escalation in school abductions across the country may be linked to fears among bandits that they may soon be targeted by foreign powers, especially after Donald Trump, the US President singled out the treatment of Christians in parts of Nigeria.

Open Doors local sources and partners on the ground say that people in general have been warned to not travel in groups as that makes them more vulnerable to kidnapping which they expect to only increase in the coming weeks. 

The ‘bandits’, as they are locally referred to in Nigeria, are often linked to crime, including kidnapping. 

Please pray for all those who have been taken. You can use the points below. And please sign and share the Arise Africa petition and call on world leaders to ensure justice, restoration and hope for Christians facing extreme persecution across sub-Saharan Africa…

Images are representative