The final group of 115 students abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Private Primary and Secondary School in Papiri community, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, have been freed, bringing the total number of rescued children to approximately 265.
According to Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser Information and Strategy to President Tinubu in a Sunday post on X: “The remaining 130 schoolchildren abducted by terrorists at St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, on November 21, have now been released. They are expected to arrive in Minna on Monday and rejoin their parents for the Christmas celebration.
“One hundred were released earlier by the terrorists, taking the total of freed students to 230.
“The freedom of the schoolchildren followed a military-intelligence driven operation.” He added
The development marked the end of a month-long ordeal that began with a deadly attack by armed gunmen on November 21, 2025, with the bandits storming the boarding school in the early hours, abducting 303 students and 12 teachers in one of the largest mass kidnappings in recent Nigerian history.
Earlier, 50 students managed to escape shortly after the abduction, while 100 others were released on December 8 following intensive security operations.
