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A total of 50 of the 303 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic institution in Nigeria have managed to escape from captivity. The development offers some solace amid one of the biggest school kidnappings in the country’s history.
The children, aged between 10 and 18, reportedly escaped separately between Friday and Saturday. However, according to the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger State and owner of the school, Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohana, the crisis continues for the 253 school children and 12 teachers who are still in the custody of the kidnappers.
“We were able to find out when we decided to contact some parents and meet them,” Yohanna said.
On Friday, gunmen attacked St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in the remote Papiri community of Niger State, capturing pupils and students along with their teachers. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abduction and officials have said local hunters as well as tactical squads have been deployed to rescue the children.
It was not immediately clear where the children from Niger state were being held or how they managed to return home.
“As we receive the return of these 50 children who escaped with a sigh of relief, I urge all of you to continue praying for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims,” Yohanna said.
The attack in Niger state came four days after 25 schoolchildren were captured in similar circumstances in the town of Maga in neighboring Kebbi state, 170 kilometers (106 mi) away.
Both states are in Nigeria’s northern region where dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as a way to dominate remote communities with little government and security presence.
The satellite image shows that the Niger State School campus is attached to an adjacent primary school, which houses over 50 classrooms and dormitory buildings. It is located near a major road connecting the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa.
School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous country, and armed gangs often view schools as “strategic” targets to attract more attention.
Niger state hastily closed all schools after Friday’s attack, while some federal colleges in conflict hotspots across the region were also closed by the Nigerian government.