The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has raised the number of missing students from St. Mary Champion Secondary School, Papiri, in Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, to 303, after confirming an additional 88 pupils could not be located following Friday’s terrorist attack.
Many distraught parents who rushed to the school to evacuate their children returned home empty-handed, unable to find them after the raid.
In a statement issued Saturday morning, Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, Catholic Bishop of Kontagora, revised the earlier figure of 215 missing students upward.
He also confirmed that four female and eight male teachers were abducted during the pre-dawn attack.
The school, which comprises both primary and secondary sections, had 430 pupils enrolled in the primary section and 199 students in the secondary section before the incident.
Bishop Yohanna, through his media aide Daniel Atori, strongly refuted claims by the Niger State Government that security warnings had been issued and that the school had been temporarily shut down.
“We asked the Local Government Education Secretary if he received any circular about a security threat he said no.
"We asked if he was instructed to pass any message to us he said no. We asked if he was verbally informed, he still said no,” the Bishop stated.
He further disclosed that the National Association of Private Schools also confirmed it received no such directive from the government.
“Let them tell the world who exactly they gave the circular to and through what channel it was sent. The claim that the school was closed and reopened a few days ago is completely false. We are a law-abiding institution,” he added.
As of Saturday afternoon, no student or staff member had been released, and no official communication had been received from the abductors. Security agencies have launched operations to locate and rescue the victims.
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