Parents Of Abducted Niger Pupils Accuse Government Of Neglect

Parents of the abducted students and pupils of St. Mary Catholic Schools in Niger State staged a protest on Saturday, accusing the government of neglecting their plight as their children and teachers spent eight days in captivity.

Over 200 distressed parents converged on the school premises to register their names and those of their missing wards, expressing frustration over what they described as government inaction.

Bandits had stormed St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, in Agwara Local Government Area on November 21, abducting more than 300 pupils and 12 teachers.

About 50 pupils, however, escaped after two days, but the rest remain with their captors.

Despite assurances from both the state and federal governments of intensified rescue efforts and the deployment of special security forces, parents reported that no official has visited or contacted them.

Many carried placards with inscriptions such as “Bring Back Our Girls,” “Is Education a Crime?” and “Our Girls and Teachers Are Still in Captivity.”

The Director of Communication of the school, Rev. Fr. Stephen Okafor, explained that the government mandated the registration.

“With this registration and the number of parents who have turned up, we do hope those negative speculations will end. Some of these parents had to travel between three and four hours to get here,” he said.

Another priest, Fr. Linus Arege, confirmed that 215 parents and guardians had already registered since the exercise began on Friday, supervised and signed by representatives of Agwarra LGA and the diocese.

Parents who spoke expressed frustration over claims that the abduction did not happen.

Joseph Dimas, whose Junior Secondary School (JSS2) son, Julius, is among the abducted, said, “The truth is that my child and others were abducted. The government should act and come to our aid instead of saying what is not true.”

Similarly, Mr Emmanuel Ejeh, whose son Mathias was also taken, said his older children graduated from the school without such incidents, making the attack even more shocking.

Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese and Proprietor of the school, Most Rev. Bulus Yohanna, expressed hope that the formal registration process would fast-track rescue efforts.

“It is eight days now since their abduction; we have not heard anything yet. We are still very hopeful of their return, and we are prayerful,” he said.

He revealed that the school serves over 50 communities, and many parents travelled long distances on motorcycles to participate in the process.

The school’s Principal, Rev. Sis. Felicia Gyam, dismissed claims that the school received prior warnings, saying, “There was nothing like that. Whoever says so should bring proof. Neither was there a circular nor a verbal notification.”

Headmistress Blessing Amodu said she had been “devastated” since the attack. “All I am pleading for at this moment is for the government and all concerned to please help us find ways to rescue these children and the staff,” she said.

Efforts to get comments from the state government were unsuccessful as Governor Umaru Bago’s Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, who earlier promised a response, had yet to do so at the time of filing this report.