Gunmen kidnap 52 children from Catholic school in Nigeria, reports say

Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped a number of college students and workers from a Catholic faculty on Friday morning, marking the newest assault on a Christian establishment.

Nigerian information channel Come up TV mentioned 52 kids have been kidnapped from St. Mary’s College. The Catholic establishment is a part of the Papiri group of Agwara native authorities The Associated Presswhich quoted Abubakar Usman, the Secretary to the State Authorities of Niger. The outlet added that Usman didn’t specify what number of kids had been kidnapped within the assault.

The Niger State Police Command mentioned army and safety forces had been deployed within the early hours of Friday to the world the place the assault came about, the AP reported. Moreover, the Niger State Police Command mentioned St. Mary’s trains college students aged 12 to 17.

CRASHERS ATTACK CHURCH IN NIGERIA, KILL TWO AND KIDN OTHERS

A drone shot of Christians leaving St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church after Sunday Mass in Palmgrove, Lagos, Nigeria, on November 2, 2025. (Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters)

After the assault, Usman launched an announcement condemning the kidnappings and saying St. Mary’s had made the choice to reopen regardless of earlier warnings from the safety intelligence about elevated threats. according to Arise TV.

“Sadly, St. Mary’s College moved to reopen and resume educational actions with out notifying the state authorities or searching for permission, exposing college students and workers to avoidable dangers,” the assertion mentioned.

The assault on St. Mary’s follows an identical incident earlier this week, wherein armed assailants kidnapped 25 women from a boarding faculty in Nigeria’s Kebbi state and killed no less than one workers member. The seek for the kidnapped schoolgirls continues to be ongoing.

On Wednesday, gunmen attacked the Christ Apostolic Church, killing no less than two individuals and kidnapping the pastor and 38 worshippers, in accordance with Reuters. In a video of the assault, reviewed and verified by Reuters, armed males are seen getting into the church and taking worshipers’ belongings as gunshots ring out. The newspaper later reported {that a} church official mentioned the gunmen demanded a ransom of 100 million naira (about $69,000) per worshiper.

Gunmen decide up belongings left behind by worshipers who took cowl after listening to gunshots as they stroll right into a church in Eruku, Kwara State, Nigeria, on November 18, 2025, on this picture obtained from social media. (Social media/through Reuters)

RAP STAR NICKI MINAJ THANKS TRUMP FOR ADDRESSING THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA

Nigeria has suffered a collection of assaults on Christians, prompting President Donald Trump to declare the West African nation a “nation of specific concern” over the persecution of Christians. Nevertheless, the Nigerian authorities has disputed the US claims.

On Tuesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz held an occasion highlighting the continuing violence in Nigeria. Through the occasion, Waltz known as the killings of Christians in Nigeria “genocide with the masks of chaos.”

“Of us, we have now a complete religion that’s being erased, one bullet at a time, one Bible burned at a time,” Waltz mentioned.

Nicki Minaj is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz previous to a panel dialogue titled “Combatting Non secular Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria” in the course of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York Metropolis on November 18, 2025. (Angela Weiss/AFP through Getty Photos)

See also  Utah Gov. Cox condemns ‘ugly, dark’ reaction to Charlie Kirk assassination

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Rap famous person Nicki Minaj, who has been vocal about her assist for the Trump administration’s efforts to fight the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, spoke at Waltz’s occasion. Minaj lamented that “households have been torn aside and whole communities reside in fixed worry merely due to the best way they pray.”

Fox Information Digital’s Ashley Carnahan and Paul Tilsley contributed to this report.