Fifty out of the over 300 schoolchildren abducted by terrorists from the St Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwara LGA of Niger State have escaped from their abductors.
The students’ escape was disclosed by the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Niger state.
According to the association, the students escaped from captivity and have been reunited with their families.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, the chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN and Catholic bishop of Kontagora diocese said the abducted students regained their freedom from captivity between Friday and Saturday.
He added that the escaped students were “quietly reunited with their families”.
Yohanna also stated that those who escaped were unable to return to the school immediately but were traced after officials contacted and visited some parents.
“The pupils escaped between Friday and Saturday and have reunited with their parents as they could not return to the school after they escaped.
“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.
“Currently, aside from the 50 pupils that escaped and have returned home, we have 141 pupils who were not carried away.
“As it stands now, we have 236 pupils, another 3 children who belong to our staff, 14 Secondary students making a total of 253 children including 12 members of staff with the abductors,” Yohanna said.
He further appealed to Nigerians to continue praying for the safe return of the remaining students while urging everyone to remain calm.
Yohanna called on the Federal and State governments as well as security agencies across the nation to ensure the safe rescue of all the abductees.
