Number of children abducted in Nigerian school attack raised to more than 300

ABUJA Nigeria AP A total of schoolchildren and teachers were abducted by gunmen during an attack on St Mary s School a Catholic institution in north-central Nigeria s Niger state the Christian Association of Nigeria announced Saturday updating an earlier tally of schoolchildren The tally was changed after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out according to a report issued by the Majority Rev Bulus Dauwa Yohanna chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN who visited the school on Friday He explained other students were also captured after they tried to escape during the attack The students were both male and female and ranged in age from to The school kidnapping in Niger state s remote Papiri society happened four days after schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state s Maga town which is kilometers miles away No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and agents have announced tactical squads have been deployed alongside local hunters to rescue the children Yohanna described as false a claim from the state executive that the school had reopened for studies despite an earlier directive for schools in that part of Niger state to close temporarily due to shield threats We did not receive any circular It must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame he mentioned calling on families to remain calm and prayerful School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa s greater part populous nation and armed gangs often see schools as strategic targets to draw more attention UNICEF stated last year that only of schools across of the conflict-hit states have early warning systems to detect threats Niger state has now shut down all schools as a measure to forestall other kidnappings The decision was in a bid to protect lives and property Niger Gov Umar Bago described reporters Saturday after meeting with safeguard functionaries in Minna It is the decision of stakeholders currently to close all schools in Niger state All schools are closed till further notice So we have declared Christmas holiday for all schools in Niger state Bago explained The kidnappings are happening amid U S President Donald Trump s suggests of targeted killings against Christians 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 The attack also took place as Nigerian National Protection Adviser Nuhu Ribadu was visiting the U S where he met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday