t was originally reported that 215 pupils had been kidnapped from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger state, early on Friday morning – but the figure was revised upwards to 303 students and 12 teachers, according to The Christian Association of Nigeria.

The association’s chair who reportedly visited the school on Friday said that more than 80 students had been captured after trying to escape during the abduction by armed assailants. The students were both male and female, aged 10 to 18.

Second mass abduction this week

The number snatched from the Catholic school in the centre of the country exceeds the 276 girls abducted during the infamous Chibok incident of 2014 and is the latest in a series of mass abductions – including earlier this week when 25 pupils were taken from a school in Kebbi state.

No group has yet claimed responsibility and authorities have deployed security forces to try and locate the students and their captors. Niger state has reportedly closed all schools until further notice.

Perpetrators must be held accountable

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed – a former environment minister in Nigeria – said in a social media post that schools should be “sanctuaries for education, not targets…We must protect schools and hold perpetrators accountable.”

The UN’s top official in the country, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Fall, posted that news of yet another mass abduction was heartbreaking, coming just days after the kidnappings in Kebbi.

He passed on his sympathies to the families of those taken and their communities, adding that all efforts must be made to ensure their safe return of students and staff.

“It’s time to fully implement the Safe School Principle,” he said, which was launched at the First International Conference on Safe Schools in Oslo, Norway, in 2015. Nigeria was among the nations who endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration that year.

Stand with the victims

UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said this week it is continuing to work closely with government partners, civil society and communities, to strengthen child protection systems in line with the declaration that no child should be put at risk while pursuing an education.

The UN culture, education and science agency’s (UNESCO) office in Nigeria also condemned Friday’s latest mass abduction, saying that schools must never be targets.

“We stand with the victims, their families and the Government of Nigeria and call for the immediate release of all abducted children,” the agency said.