BREAKING: Remaining 115 St. Mary’s Catholic Students Kidnapped In Niger Regain Freedom
Olayiwola Matthew
The 115 schoolchildren of St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, in Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State still being held by their bandits, have regained their freedom.
The release of the children is coming a month after they were abducted by the terrorists in a midnight raid on the school where 315 of them, including their teachers were taken away.
News Region had earlier reported about two weeks ago that 100 of the children were released and have been reunited with their families.
Although there is no official confirmation of the release yet, it was gathered that the school children were released on Friday evening in far away forest between Agwara and Borgu local government areas of the state.
According to reports, security operatives from the office of the National Security Adviser have been mobilised for the evacuation of the children under heavy security.
It was also reported that a source preview to the release of the remaining children said it was an intensive negotiation between the government and the terrorists. As of the time of writing this report, it is unclear if ransom was paid for the release of the children.
The children were part of the 315 persons seized on 21 November 2025 when armed bandits stormed the remote school community around 2:00 a.m., operating unhindered for nearly three hours.
The attackers abducted 303 students and 12 teachers, prompting a massive security response.
In the first 24 hours after the attack, 50 of the students escaped and were reunited with their families, leaving 265 others with their abductors, including 253 children and all 12 teachers.
To contain the crisis, the Federal Government enforced a 24-hour security lockdown across the area and launched wide-ranging aerial surveillance covering parts of Niger, Kwara, and Kebbi States.
President Bola Tinubu also cancelled a scheduled international trip to oversee the rescue operations personally.