The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has announced that the number of missing students following the attack on St. Mary Secondary School, Papiri in Niger State has risen to 303.
The attack, carried out in the early hours of Friday, saw armed terrorists invade the school, abducting students and staff. Earlier reports had placed the number of unaccounted students at 215.
According to Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, the Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, many parents who rushed to the school found their children missing after the incident. He also confirmed that 12 teachers—four women and eight men—were among those kidnapped.
The school accommodates 430 primary pupils and 199 secondary students, making the scale of the attack even more devastating.
Bishop Yohanna refuted claims by the Secretary to the State Government that authorities had received prior warnings before the attack. He stressed that neither the government nor security agencies issued any alert to the diocese or school management before the tragic incident.
Similarly, the Niger State government has claimed that th school management refuse to acknowledged the alert earlier raise of intent of bandits attack.
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