50 pupils escape after mass abduction at Catholic school in Nigeria; over 260 still held

Fifty pupils abducted during an attack on a Catholic school in Nigeria have escaped and returned home, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria. More than 200 children and staff members remain in captivity.

The update was announced on Sunday by Bishop Bulus Yohanna, a regional chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria. He said many of the children reached their families between Friday and Saturday after fleeing their captors. No details were released about how the escape occurred.

According to the bishop, 236 pupils remain abducted along with three children belonging to staff members, 14 secondary school students, and 12 staff members, for a total of 265 people still in captivity.

The abductions happened earlier this week when armed men attacked St. Mary Private Primary and Secondary Schools in Niger State and kidnapped 315 people, Punch Nigeria reported. Local authorities have not said which group was responsible.

Mass abductions at schools in northern Nigeria have been carried out by both armed bandit groups and Islamist extremist factions, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which have targeted students in previous attacks.

“I feel great pain, above all for the many young men and women who have been abducted and for their distressed families,” Pope Leo XIV said in statement. “I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”

The latest incident comes weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that he had instructed the Department of War to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria if its government failed to stop what he described as widespread killings of Christians.