Abducted Niger pupils, staff reunited with families – Official

The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has confirmed that all children and staff abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Schools, Papiri in Niger, have been rescued and reunited with their families.

Rev. Bulus Yohanna, Catholic Diocese of Kontagora and Properitor of St. Mary Catholic Private Primary and Secondary School, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

He said a total of 230 persons comprising 12 staff members, 14 students and 204 pupils were verified to have been abducted and later rescued through the efforts of the Federal and Niger state governments, as well as security agencies.

Yohanna said that all rescued children had been reunited with their families, adding that no report had been received indicating that any child remained missing.

He explained that immediately after the abduction on Nov. 21,, an initial headcount showed that 315 persons were unaccounted for.

He noted that on Nov. 23, 50 of those earlier listed as missing had escaped and returned to their parents, reducing the number of unaccounted persons to 265.

“A joint verification exercise by the state government, security agencies and school authorities later revealed that not all parents were present during the exercise.

“A second and final verification conducted by the school authorities in collaboration with the Parents-Teachers Association established that an additional 35 persons had either not been abducted or had escaped earlier,” he said.

He added that out of the initial 315 persons reported missing, 85 were confirmed to have either escaped or not been abducted, bringing the verified number of abducted persons to 230.

He acknowledged that discrepancies recorded during the initial headcount were due to the chaotic nature of the incident.

He noted that some pupils fled into nearby bushes and did not immediately return for the first headcount, while some parents were absent during verification.

Yohanna emphasised that the discrepancies were not intended to mislead the public but were the result of challenges associated with a fast-evolving and emotionally charged situation.

He expressed gratitude to the government and security agencies for their intervention, as well as to parents, the Christian community, the media and the public for their prayers, patience and support.

He also prayed for healing and restoration for all affected families.