Pope calls on kidnappers in Nigeria to free 265 college students and academics after 50 pupils escape – Boston Information, Climate, Sports activities

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic faculty in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and at the moment are with their households, the varsity authority mentioned Sunday, bringing aid to some distraught households after one of many largest faculty abductions in Nigeria’s historical past.

The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, based on the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Affiliation of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the varsity.

The pope on Sunday known as for the speedy launch of the remaining schoolchildren and employees.

A complete of 253 schoolchildren and 12 academics are nonetheless being held by the abductors, Yohanna mentioned in a press release. “We have been capable of confirm this once we determined to contact and go to some dad and mom,” he added.

The pupils and college students have been seized along with their academics by gunmen who attacked the St. Mary’s College, a Catholic establishment in Niger state’s distant Papiri group, on Friday.

No group has but claimed accountability for the abductions and Nigerian authorities haven’t shared any replace on rescue efforts. It was not instantly clear the place the Niger state youngsters have been being held or how they managed to return house.

The Niger state faculty is positioned close to a significant highway linking the cities of Yelwa and Mokwa, and is in a area of Nigeria the place armed gangs usually function out of huge forests that join completely different states and battle sizzling spots.

“As a lot as we obtain the return of those 50 youngsters that escaped with some sigh of aid, I urge you all to proceed in your prayers for the rescue and protected return of the remaining victims,” the Yohanna mentioned.

Pope Leo XIV known as for the speedy launch of the schoolchildren and employees of the varsity, saying on the finish of a mass in St.Peter’s sq. on Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.

“I really feel nice sorrow, particularly for the numerous women and boys who’ve been kidnapped and for his or her anguished households,” the pontiff mentioned. “I make a heartfelt enchantment for the speedy launch of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take applicable and well timed selections to make sure their launch.”

College kidnappings have come to outline insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs usually see colleges as “strategic” targets to attract extra consideration. At the least 1,500 college students have been seized in Nigeria for the reason that well-known kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls greater than a decade in the past, and most of the youngsters have been launched solely after ransoms have been paid.

The Niger state assault occurred 4 days after 25 schoolchildren have been seized in comparable circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga city, which is 170 kilometers (106 miles) away.

Each states are in a northern area of Nigeria the place dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as a technique of dominating distant communities with little authorities and safety presence.

Niger state hurriedly closed down all colleges after Friday’s assault, whereas some federal schools in battle hotspots throughout the area have been additionally closed by the Nigerian authorities.

The kidnappings are occurring on the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of “Christian persecution” within the West African nation. Assaults in Nigeria have an effect on each Christians and Muslims. The varsity assault earlier this week in Kebbi state was in a Muslim-majority city.

Arrests are uncommon and ransom funds are widespread in most of the sizzling spots in northern Nigeria.

Confidence McHarry, a safety analyst at Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence, mentioned that whereas there’s little proof that Trump’s feedback might need impressed the gunmen to launch extra assaults within the hope that extra consideration would convey increased ransoms, “the absence of penalties is what’s fuelling these assaults.”

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Related Press journalist Francesco Sportelli in Rome contributed.