On November 21, Thursday, armed terrorists in Nigeria’s Papiri in the Northwestern region stormed into a Catholic school and kidnapped around 227 students, as per reports. The incident has happened within days of another school kidnapping where 25 girls were taken away by armed militants in the neighbouring Kebbi region.
The Christian Association of Nigeria has confirmed the latest kidnapping incident in St Mary’s school in Papiri, stating that despite government-ordered closure of schools, attacks and kidnappings targeted at Christians are continuing unabated in the country. 15 teachers and staff members have also been abducted in the latest incident. Though the Christian Association has claimed that these kidnappings are targeted religious persecution against Christians by Fulani Jihadi groups, the Nigerian government has denied the charges, saying that the earlier incident, where 25 schoolgirls were kidnapped, all the victims were Muslim.
The government insists that the kidnappings are done for ransom and banditry, rather than for ideological reasons.
The latest incident is reminiscent of the 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok by Boko Haram.
Nigerian security forces have been deployed in the area, but not a single rescue has been done so far. UNESCO has condemned the attack, highlighting threats by Jihadi groups in the region.
In March 2024, more than 200 students were kidnapped in a similar incident in Kaduna state. President Bola Tinubu has postponed his scheduled trips, including the G20 summit in South Africa, due to the current situation in the country. The Fulani militia groups and criminal gangs are usually suspected of being behind these kidnappings. The conflict between the mostly Christian farmers and the mostly Muslim Fulani militia has been an ongoing problem in Nigeria.