Gunmen abduct more than 200 pupils from Nigerian Catholic school

ABUJA, Nigeria

More than 200 pupils were kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in central Nigeria on Friday, the second mass school kidnapping this week.

The latest attack targeted St Mary's School in Papiri, Niger state, where authorities had already ordered the temporary closure of all boarding schools due to rising security threats.

The Christian Association of Nigeria said 215 students and 12 members of staff were taken during the early morning raid.

Nigeria has faced a renewed wave of attacks by armed groups in recent days, including the kidnapping on Monday of more than 20 schoolgirls, who our reporter has been told are Muslim, from a boarding school in neighboring Kebbi state.

A church was also attacked further south, in Kwara state, with two people killed and 38 abducted while the service was being broadcast online.

President Bola Tinubu has postponed his foreign trips - including this weekend's G20 summit in South Africa - in order to address these security issues.

Police said armed men - locally known as bandits - stormed St Mary's School on Friday at about 02:00 local time (01:00 GMT) and abducted students from their hostel.

Fear and uncertainty have gripped the area as families wait for news.

"Everybody is weak... it took everybody by surprise," local resident Dominic Adamu told the reporter.

Mr Adamu, whose daughters attend St Mary's School but were not abducted, added: "People are complaining about the state of security in our country."

One distressed woman tearfully said that her nieces, aged six and 13 were kidnapped. "I just want them to come home," she said.

The authorities in Niger state said the school, attended by both girls and boys, had disregarded an order to close all boarding facilities following intelligence warnings of a heightened risk of attacks.

"Regrettably, St Mary's School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the state government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk," they said in a statement.

The police said that security agencies were "combing the forests with a view to rescue the abducted students".

The attack follows claims by US President Donald Trump that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, an allegation dismissed by the Nigerian government.