ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said Sunday, as the pope called for the immediate release of those still missing.
READ MORE: More than 300 schoolchildren abducted in attack on Catholic school in Nigeria, authorities say
The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the school.
A total of 253 schoolchildren and 12 teachers are still being held by the kidnappers, Yohanna said in a statement. “We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” he added.
Meanwhile, 38 worshippers kidnapped during a deadly church attack in central Nigeria’s Kwara state have regained their freedom, Kwara Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said in a statement.
Gunmen had attacked the Christ Apostolic Church in Kwara’s Eruku town on Tuesday, killing two people and taking others hostage. Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, in a separate statement, attributed the freedom of the worshippers to “the efforts of security agencies” without giving further details.
Pope ‘deeply saddened’
The Niger state pupils and students were seized together with their teachers by gunmen who attacked the St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in Niger state’s remote Papiri community, on Friday.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and Nigerian authorities have not shared any update on rescue efforts. It was not immediately clear where the Niger state children were being held or how they managed to return home.
READ MORE: What to know about abductions of schoolchildren in Nigeria
The Niger state school is located near a major road linking the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa, and is in a region of Nigeria where armed gangs often operate out of vast forests that connect different states and conflict hot spots.
“As much as we receive the return of these 50 children that escaped with some sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue in your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims,” the Yohanna said.
Pope Leo XIV called for the immediate release of the schoolchildren and staff of the school, saying at the end of a mass in St.Peter’s square on Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.
“I feel great sorrow, especially for the many girls and boys who have been abducted and for their anguished families,” the pontiff said. “I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”
Kidnapping for ransom
School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention. At least 1,500 students have been seized in Nigeria since the famous kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago, and many of the children were released only after ransoms were paid.
The Niger state attack happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga town, which is 170 kilometers (106 miles) away.
READ MORE: One of 25 kidnapped students in Nigeria escapes as the search continues for the missing girls
Both states are in a northern region of Nigeria where dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as one way of dominating remote communities with little government and security presence.
Niger state hurriedly closed down all schools after Friday’s attack, while some federal colleges in conflict hotspots across the region were also closed by the Nigerian government.
‘I will not relent’
The kidnappings are happening on the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of “Christian persecution” in the West African country. Attacks in Nigeria affect both Christians and Muslims. The school attack earlier this week in Kebbi state was in a Muslim-majority town.
WATCH: Amid rising violence, Nigeria rejects Trump’s claim of targeted Christian persecution
Arrests are rare and ransom payments are common in many of the hot spots in northern Nigeria.
Confidence McHarry, a security analyst at Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence, said that while there’s little evidence that Trump’s comments might have inspired the gunmen to launch more attacks in the hope that more attention would bring higher ransoms, “the absence of consequences is what is fuelling these attacks.”
In a statement welcoming the freedom of some of those kidnapped in Niger state and Kebbi state, Tinubu said his government will not relent until every hostage is freed.
“Let me be clear: I will not relent. Every Nigerian, in every state, has the right to safety — and under my watch, we will secure this nation and protect our people,” he added.
Associated Press journalist Francesco Sportelli in Rome and Dyepkazah Shibayan in Abuja contributed.
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