At least 52 schoolchildren and teachers have been kidnapped from a school in northwestern Nigeria, according to government officials, the second such attack in the country this week.
Armed men attacked the Catholic school in the state of Niger early on Friday, according to Bello Gidi, an aide to the local government, adding that the number of those kidnapped could be as high as 100. A spokesman at the Diocese of Kontagora, where the school is, said a security officer at the school was shot in the attack.
Mass kidnappings have become common in Nigeria, including from boarding schools. On Monday, 24 Muslim girls were abducted from a school in the state of Kebbi, which borders Niger state. One student avoided being kidnapped by hiding in a bathroom, and several others managed to escape.
In previous kidnappings, some victims have been released in exchange for ransoms, but many have not been heard from again. In 2014, the Boko Haram terrorist group abducted almost 300 girls from a school dormitory in Chibok, in the northeast of the country, in one of the best known mass abductions. Some of the students escaped and others were released, but many remain in captivity.
Nigeria is under intense scrutiny over what President Trump and some celebrities, including the rapper Nicki Minaj, have framed as the persecution of Christians. Though Christians are often victims of kidnappings and other violent attacks, there is no evidence that they are targeted more than any other group.
Boarding schools in the area of the latest abduction had been ordered to close after the state government received intelligence that there was an increased threat level, Abubakar Usman, a Niger state official, said in a statement. “Regrettably, St. Mary’s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the State Government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,” he said.
Mr. Usman added that the security agencies had started “a full-scale investigation and search-and-rescue operations” to bring the abductees home.
Ruth Maclean is the West Africa bureau chief for The Times, covering 25 countries including Nigeria, Congo, the countries in the Sahel region as well as Central Africa.
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