Armed gangs have abducted an unknown number of pupils from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, police and a government official said on Friday, in the second such incident in less than a week.
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The school kidnappings and an attack on a church earlier in the week come weeks after US President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he described as the targeted killings of Nigeria’s Christians, a narrative rejected by the Nigerian government.
The Niger state government said it had “received with deep sadness the disturbing news of the kidnapping of pupils from St Mary’s School in Agwara local government area”.
“The exact number of abducted pupils is yet to be confirmed as security agencies continue to assess the situation,” Abubakar Usman, the state government secretary, said in a statement.
Local media broadcaster Arise TV said 52 schoolchildren were abducted.
Coming after gunmen stormed a secondary school in Kebbi state in northwestern Nigeria, abducting 25 schoolgirls early on Monday, Friday’s attack further raises alarm over security in Africa’s most populous country.