Nigeria: 50 children escape mass kidnapping in Niger State, 265 still missing

Nigeria: Fifty of the 315 children who were kidnapped from a Catholic school in Nigeria's Niger State on Friday by armed men have escaped from the kidnappers, leaving 265 still in captivity despite ongoing government efforts to rescue them.

The 50 children rescued have reportedly been reunited with their families while the government of Nigeria has reportedly launched an investigation to know the whereabouts of the remaining 265 children.

According to the Nigeria police the mass kidnapping of the 315 children happened on Friday, November 21 around 2:00 after armed men stormed the school and kidnapped the schoolchildren along with some of the teachers.

In a daring and bold move 50 of the children managed to escape the captors, escaping between Friday and Saturday.

The government further ensuring the safety of children, has recruited additional 30,000 police officers and Saturday Niger state governor Mohammed Umaru Bongo ordered a shutdown of several Nigeria states such as Kebbi, Niger, Katsina, Yobe and Kwara that seem to be targeted for mass kidnapping.

However, this is not the first abduction and attack in Nigeria as over the past months the country has been in unrest of mass abductions and attacks seeming to be mainly directed to those of Cristian faith.

Reportedly, just last week, Monday another abduction of 25 pupils occurred in a Kebi state boarding school, while another of 38 people occurred on Sunday as the 38 members of the church were abducted during a church service in Kwara state last week.

Although the 38 people were reportedly released on Sunday, the attacks went on to turn deadly as another attack on Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku left two people dead on the scene.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has assured his citizens on Sunday that the government is doing all that is in their power to recover not only the children kidnapped but also the adults who were kidnapped and return them home safely.

He emphasized that the government has taken a step to deploy the Very Important Persons (VIP) protection services across the country in vulnerable remote areas as it is the core objective of the government to limit such attacks and rescue those kidnapped.

A lot of confusion and uncertainty still lingers in Papiri, the Niger state where the children were taken from with parents still calling for stronger governmental action on the case as the village still has no security forces available.

Pope Leo XIV expressed immense sadness over the kidnappings in Nigeria and urged the authorities to act swiftly.

Before the Angelus closing the Mass on the Jubilee for Choirs, Pope Leo expresses his sorrow for the kidnapping of "priests, faithful & students in Nigeria & Cameroon," asks for their immediate release, prays for churches and schools to always "remain places of safety and hope." pic.twitter.com/zlYK4a0Dfa

— Ines San Martin (@inesanma) November 23, 2025

The military, police and local vigilantes are reportedly on the ground conducting a search for the children, combing nearby forests and remote routes believed to have been used by the gunmen.

The attack comes only weeks after President Trump issued a warning that he will have to interfere due to the mass persecution of Christians in the country. Claims that the Nigerian government denied.