Fifty of the more than 300 kids who were taken from a Catholic school in Niger state have gotten away from their kidnappers.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said this in a statement today. They said the people who escaped did so between Friday and yesterday.
Daniel Atori, the media aide to CAN Chairman in Niger State, Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, said, “We have received some good news: fifty pupils escaped and have reunited with their parents.”
“The students got away between Friday and Saturday and are now back with their parents since they couldn’t go back to school after they got away. “We were able to find this out when we decided to call and visit some parents,” the statement said.
“Please note that out of the 430 students we have in the school, 377 are boarders and 53 are not.
“Right now, we have 141 students who were not taken away, in addition to the 50 students that fled and went home. Right now, we have 236 students, 3 staff members’ children, and 14 secondary school students, for a total of 253 children, including 12 staff members who are with the kidnappers.
He said that Bishop Yohanna, who is both the school’s owner and the Catholic Bishop of the Kontagora Diocese, offered the information, according to Channels TV.
He also asked for calm and prayers for the safe rescue of the other victims.
“As much as we are happy to get these 50 kids back, I ask you all to keep praying for the safe return of the other victims.
“I want to ask everyone to stay calm and pray. We will keep working closely with security forces, community leaders, the government, and other relevant authorities to make sure that all of the abducted people come home safely and quickly.
“May the Lord quickly free those who were taken and keep his people safe from all harm.”
Terrorists broke into the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, which is in the Agwarra local government region of Niger State, and took more than 300 kids.
The first report indicated that 227 people were taken against their will on Friday, but CAN now that the actual number of people detained by suspected terrorists is 315.
Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Niger State, delivered the update following a verification and final census.
A look at the new data found that 303 pupils and 12 teachers were affected.
Yohanna added, “After we left Papiri School, we decided to make calls, run a verification exercise, and ask additional questions about the pupils we thought had successfully escaped. We found out that 88 more students were also detained after they tried to flee.
“Some parents whose kids we thought had gotten away from the attack also came to ask for their kids, which caught our attention. We were interested, so we ran a census and found out that they had been taken.
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