A glimmer of hope emerged yesterday as 50 students of St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, abducted by bandits at Papiri in Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State last Friday, escaped from their abductors.
According to Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger State chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Catholic bishop of the Kontagora Diocese, the pupils regained their freedom between Friday and Saturday and “quietly reunited with their families”.
The students, who escaped, were unable to return to the school immediately, prompting officials to contact parents to confirm their whereabouts.
“We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents. Note that, in the primary section, out of the total number of 430 pupils we have in the school, 377 of them are boarders and the remaining 53 others are non-boarders,” Yohanna said.
Currently, aside from the 50 pupils that escaped and have returned home, 141 pupils who were not carried away remain.
“As it stands now, we have 236 pupils, another 3 children who belong to our staff, 14 Secondary students making a total 253 children, including 12 members of staff with the abductors,” Yohanna added.
The bishop appealed for continued support and calm as efforts intensify to secure the release of the remaining abductees.
In a related development, the 38 congregants abducted by bandits during the thanksgiving service attack on Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, Oke-Isegun Eruku in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State have also regained freedom after five days in captivity.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq attributed the freedom of the victims to President Bola Tinubu and other security agencies.
President Tinubu expressed excitement over the rescue of the 38 worshippers and the return of 50 students kidnapped in a Catholic School in Niger State, saying he was closely monitoring the security situation nationwide and receiving continuous updates from the frontline
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