CAN Confirms 303 Pupils, 12 Teachers Abducted In Niger School Attack
By: Olufemi Orunsola
In a heart-wretching development that questions if Nigeria is now under siege by terrorists poised to turn the populous African country to an ungovernable theatre of abductions, the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN), in Niger State has confirmed that 315 persons were taken away by armed men who attacked a Catholic school in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area, in the early hours of Friday.
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports as gathered that the state CAN Chairman, Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who spoke with the press on Friday made a series of shocking announcements.
Earlier, he announced after returning from the community where he met with distressed parents and visited the affected school owned by the Catholic Church that a total of 227 persons consisting 215 students and 12 teachers were abducted.
He expressed utmost shock at the magnitude of the abduction, noting that it marks one of the most troubling incidents recorded in the state in recent years.
“I have just got back to the village this night after I visited the school where I also met with parents of the children to assure them that we are working with the government and security agencies to see that our children are rescued and brought back safely,” he said.
Although he initially noted that some pupils reportedly managed to escape during the attack before the school shut for safety, while parents have been arriving in the community to take their children home.
Yohanna added, “It is worthy to note that during the terrorists attack, some students escaped and parents have started coming for pick up their children as the school has to be shutdown.”
The CAN Chairman appealed for calm, saying the association was in close contact with security operatives, community leaders and the government.
“I want to call on everyone to remain calm and prayerful, and I also want to assure you that we are actively collaborating with security operatives, community leaders and government authorities for the safe and quick return of all abductees,” he said.
However, in a more chilling turn of events, the total number of abductees in the St.Mary School attack has reportedly increased to 315 as the CAN Chairman in the state further revealed that an additional 88 students believed to have escaped during the attack have been confirmed abducted by their parents and families.
"After we left the school at Papiri, we decided to make calls, conduct a verification excercise and make further enquiries on those we thought had escaped, only to discover that 88 more students were also captured after they tried to escape.
OTN News observes that going by the released statistics, the magnitude of the Niger abduction beats previous cases of abductions in recent times since the Islamic group Boko Haram seized 276 school girls at Chibok in the year 2014.
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