Over 100 Students Kidnapped in Niger State Attack on Missionary School

Armed men suspected to be bandits in the early hours of Friday invaded a missionary school in Papiri ward, Agwara local government area of Niger state and kidnapped over 100 students from the school.

The missionary school, St. Mary primary and secondary school, operates both day and boarding system and have been in existence for over 50 years offering quality education to the entire Borgu kingdom.

According to a source close to Papiri community, the heavily armed gunmen arrived the school at about 3:00am and condoned the whole area before moving into the hostel from where they march all the students to a wait two Mitsubishi canter.
“In their usual manner, they shot sporadically into the air to care everybody away on their arrival in the school.

This latest attack is coming barely two weeks after gunmen ambushed the convoy of the member representing Agwara/Borgu federal Constituency Hon Jafaru Mohammed Ali and killed six soldiers in the area.

The number of casualties could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report as there is no official statement from either the school management, the state government nor the state police command.

It could be recalled that in 2021, gunmen in a similar manner, invaded government science secondary Kagara, the headquarters of Rafi local government area of the state and abducted no fewer than 42 people, among them 27 students.

It was followed by another mass abduction of about 200 children from an Islamic school in Tegina, the same Rafi local government area of the state
This development forced the state government then under ex. Sani Bello to closed down all boarding schools across the state.

No fewer than 22 schools (11 day schools and 11 boarding schools) were closed in the wake of the Kidnaping incidences across the state.