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Revised Toll: 315 Abducted from St. Mary’s School in Niger State — 303 Students Taken

Updated figures: Local officials revised the number abducted from St. Mary's School in Papiri to 315 after a head count — 303 students and 12 staff. Authorities say many victims were aged about 10 to 18; an additional 88 people were reportedly seized as they tried to escape. Intelligence had warned of a possible attack and a closure order for boarding facilities was reportedly not followed. Security forces are searching nearby forests while families await news.

03:34 AM, 11/23/2025Security
Revised Toll: 315 Abducted from St. Mary’s School in Niger State — 303 Students Taken

Revised count: 315 people abducted from St. Mary’s School in Papiri

Local officials say armed gunmen seized 303 students and 12 staff members — 315 people in all — from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, after a follow-up head count confirmed the scale of Friday's attack, Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria's Niger State chapter, said.

Officials reported the victims were predominantly schoolchildren aged roughly 10 to 18 and included both boys and girls. School administrators initially said about 215 people were missing; Danial Atori, a spokesman for Yohanna, said another 88 people were taken while attempting to flee.

Local authorities had received intelligence warning of a possible attack and reportedly issued instructions to close the school's boarding facilities, but the order was not followed. In the aftermath, several state and federally run schools across northern Nigeria announced temporary closures to reduce the risk of further abductions.

Security forces are searching nearby forests and surrounding areas in an effort to rescue the abducted students and staff. Families have been left waiting and pleading for the return of their children.

An aunt of two missing girls said she only wants them to come home.

Dominic Adamu, whose daughters attend the school but were not taken, said the community has been left shaken and exhausted by the attack.

The revised figure surpasses the 276 students abducted from Chibok in 2014 and represents roughly half the pupils enrolled at the Catholic school in Papiri, making this one of the worst mass kidnappings in the country's recent history.

The raid was one of three mass abductions reported in Nigeria this week. Earlier, gunmen attacked a government boarding school in Kebbi State and kidnapped 25 female students, and attackers stormed a church in Kwara State, killing two people and abducting 38 others.

Authorities say they will continue search and rescue operations and provide updates as investigations progress.

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