More than 300 children and staff are believed to have been abducted from a Catholic school in Niger state, in one of the worst mass kidnappings recorded in Nigeria.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Saturday it had revised upward its estimate of those seized from St Mary’s School on Friday to 315, from an earlier figure of 227, after a “verification exercise”.
“This now makes it 303 students and 12 teachers, bringing the total number of abducted persons to 315,” CAN said in a statement, adding that the new tally included 88 students who were caught as they tried to flee.
The kidnapping comes amid a surge in attacks by armed groups and Islamist insurgents, and as Nigeria faces growing international scrutiny after U.S. President Donald Trump this month threatened military action over the treatment of Christians.
If confirmed, the revised number would surpass the 276 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in the 2014 Chibok kidnapping, which drew global outrage.
The Niger state government said on Friday the school had failed to comply with an order to close boarding facilities after intelligence indicated a high risk of attacks.
But Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, CAN’s chairman in Niger, disputed that account, saying there had been no such warning. He said he travelled to the school on Friday night.
“We are working with the government and security agencies to see that our children are rescued and brought back safely,” Yohanna said.
The federal government has ordered nearly 50 unity colleges to suspend classes, while public schools in some states have also been shut as fears of further attacks mount.
Friday’s abduction was the third mass kidnapping in Nigeria this week. On Monday, gunmen seized 25 schoolgirls from a boarding school in Kebbi state, and on Wednesday 38 worshippers were taken during an attack on a church in Kwara state.
A senior U.S. State Department official said on Thursday Washington was weighing steps including sanctions and Pentagon counterterrorism support as part of a broader effort to push Nigeria to better protect Christian communities and uphold religious freedom.
Nigerian authorities say claims of systematic persecution of Christians oversimplify a complex security crisis and fail to reflect measures taken to protect all religious groups.