The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has confirmed that all children and staff who were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Schools in Papiri, Niger, have been rescued and are now back with their families.
Rev. Bulus Yohanna, the Proprietor of St. Mary Catholic Private Primary and Secondary School and a representative of the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora, shared this news in a statement on Thursday.
He reported that a total of 230 individuals, including 12 staff members, 14 students, and 204 pupils, were confirmed to have been kidnapped and subsequently rescued thanks to the efforts of the Federal and Niger State governments, along with security agencies.
Yohanna stated that all the rescued children have been reunited with their families, and there have been no reports of any child still missing.
He explained that right after the abduction on November 21, an initial headcount indicated that 315 individuals were unaccounted for.
On November 23, it was noted that 50 of those initially reported missing had escaped and returned to their parents, which brought the number of unaccounted individuals down to 265.
“A joint verification exercise conducted by the state government, security agencies, and school authorities later showed that not all parents were present during the initial verification.
“A second and final verification carried out by the school authorities in partnership with the Parents-Teachers Association confirmed that an additional 35 individuals had either not been abducted or had escaped earlier,” he explained.
He further mentioned that out of the original 315 individuals reported missing, 85 were confirmed to have either escaped or not been abducted, resulting in a verified count of 230 abducted individuals.
He acknowledged that the discrepancies noted during the initial headcount were a result of the chaotic circumstances surrounding the incident.
He pointed out that some pupils had fled into nearby bushes and did not return in time for the first headcount, while some parents were absent during the verification process.
Yohanna stressed that the discrepancies recorded were due to the confusion of the situation.