In the early hours of Friday 21 November, over three hundred children and twelve staff members were abducted from St Mary’s Catholic Nursery, Primary, and Secondary School in Papiri in the Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State in Nigeria’s north central region.
A large group of armed gunmen arrived at the school, which is located in a remote area, at around 1am in a fleet of motorbikes and cars, overpowered the single security guard and went round the dormitories gathering the children and taking them away.
Two days after the kidnapping, the Christian Association of Nigeria reported that fifty pupils had escaped and had been reunited with their parents. The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora published a list of the 253 children (239 nursery and primary pupils and 14 secondary students) and twelve staff members who remain in captivity. The children range in age from 4 up to 17.
St Mary’s School was established by the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, which is led by Sr Mary Barron (pictured), a native of Donegal. Sr Mary, who visited the school some years ago, told RTÉ News: “We had the awful news from our community in Papiri in Niger state, where the children from our school, along with staff members were kidnapped. I can’t imagine the pain that the parents of those children in particular are feeling. Or the children whose parents have been taken, the adults who have been taken. I have deep, deep anguish. I am the leader of our congregation in the world and I feel anguished and powerless to do anything.”
Sr Mary said that the person with the most power to help secure their release is President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu and she appealed to him, “Please do all that you can to get the right people to act to secure the release and the safe return of all these people” .
Sr Mary also appealed to the Irish Government to use every diplomatic channel available to support efforts to locate and safely return the 265 children and teachers who remain missing. She stressed the urgency of coordinated international action, saying, “Our huge concern is that we get them back safely as soon as possible – they are seriously traumatised.”
Continuing controversy over Trump statement
The kidnapping comes in the midst of a deep controversy about the persecution of Christians in Nigeria which began with a video message in early November when US President Donald Trump announced that he was going to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act. CPC designation is intended to encourage a government to change its policies to ensure religious freedom is respected and can sometimes lead to economic sanctions. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended Nigeria for CPC designation since 2009 for “engaging in and tolerating particularly severe religious freedom violations”. In October the CEOs of Christian Solidarity Worldwide in Nigeria, UK and USA wrote to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appealing for the redesignation of Nigeria as a CPC.
President Trump stated that “radical Islamists” in Nigeria were responsible for the mass slaughter of thousands of Christians. and warned that if the killings continued the US would cut all aid and assistance and potentially descend on Nigeria “guns-a-blazing”.
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the CPC designation was not a reflection of the reality on the ground, stating, “Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it. Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.”
Church in Chains statement
David Turner (Director of Church in Chains) commented: “Firstly, we join Christians all over the world in praying for the rescue and return of these children and teachers. Once again, the hearts of Christian parents in Nigeria are consumed with worry and fear as memories are stirred of the kidnapping of many other groups of schoolchildren including the Chibok girls in 2014 and of Leah Sharibu in 2018.
“More broadly, we welcome the international spotlight being shone on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria since President Trump’s statement but are once again disappointed with the reaction of the Nigerian government in seeking to deflect attention from tackling the threat posed by militant Islamist groups by pointing to the Nigerian constitution. This is irrelevant as the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom is worthless unless, as we stated in our meeting with Nigerian embassy officials last year, backed up strongly by the Nigerian security forces in acting to stop the violence against Christians.”
The most recent report from Church in Chains’ partner Stefanos Foundation states: “The period 9–19 November 2025 reflects a sharp escalation in abductions (especially of women, girls and school children from schools/churches) and a particularly lethal backlash against local self-defence efforts in Niger State.
“The total casualties in just under 10 days include at least 48 dead, 15 injured, and 182 abducted – figures that are almost certainly under-reported, given the many unclear figures for deaths, injuries and abductions. Sadly, even when the record clearly shows a dire security situation with no sign of abating, some are still in denial.”
(BBC News, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Deutsche Welle, Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, Open Doors, RTÉ News, Sahara Reporters, USCIRF)
Photo credits: Representative image – Ladiwayne (Pexels), Sr Mary Barron – Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles