- As Pope Leo demands release of kidnap victims
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has confirmed that 50 of the more than 300 children abducted from a Catholic school in Niger State have escaped from their captors.
CAN disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
“We have received some good news as fifty pupils escaped and have reunited with their parents,” said CAN, adding that they escaped between Friday and Saturday.
Below is a list of the lucky 50 students:
- Samson Bitrus
- Emmanuel Francis
- Amos Mathew
- Timothy Peter
- Ayuba Victor
- Bulus Emmanuel
- Bulus Samaila
- Caleb Hossa
- Catherine Emmanuel
- Christopher Ezekiel
- Dominic Daniel
- Dominic Elisha
- Elisha Haruna
- Ezekiel Yakubu
- Ezekiel Emmanuel
- Ezekiel Samuel
- Ezekiel Plus
- Ezra James
- Femi Peter
- Gloria Jeremiah
- Godiya Mathew Ibiya
- Ishaaya David
- Joseph Sunday
- Julius Paul
- Justina Adamu
- Keziah Musa
- Lawrence James
- Lawrence Yohanna
- Marcus Bulus
- Mariam Joshua
- Mathew Dauda
- Micah Luka
- Michael Jacob
- Musa Timothy
- Naomi Bulus
- Nicodemus Ibrahim
- Peter Jonathan
- Priscilla Peter
- Emmanuel Godwin
- Samaila Dauda
- Stephen Andrew
- Sunday Shadrach
- Victoria David
- Victoria Ishaku
- Vincent Emmanuel
- Yahaya Sani
- Yakubu Saminu
- Yunusa Musa
- Yusuf Sunday
Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV has called for the release of over 300 students taken hostage from the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri in the Agwarra Local Government Area.
“I learned with immense sadness the news of the kidnappings of priests, faithful, and students in Nigeria and Cameroon,” he said.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Saturday said gunmen had kidnapped more than 300 students and teachers in raids on the Niger State school.
“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages,” Leo said, expressing his “deep sorrow, especially for the many young boys and girls kidnapped and for their anguished families.
“Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours and that churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope,” he said at the end of the Angelus prayer.
The attackers stormed the school, said to be a private Catholic school, in the early hours of Friday.
Sources said the gunmen arrived in large numbers, riding on over 60 motorcycles and accompanied by a van.
They were said to have shot the school’s gatekeeper, leaving him with serious injuries.
A source in Agwara who confirmed the incident said: “Yes, it happened between 3 and 4 am. The number of students abducted is not yet confirmed.”
Another source claimed that some teachers were also forcibly taken away during the attack.