88 additional students reported missing after attack on St. Mary Secondary School in Niger State

The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has announced that 88 more students have been declared missing following Friday’s deadly attack on St. Mary Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State.

The latest figure, released on Saturday morning by Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, brings the total number of missing students to 303. The Bishop had earlier confirmed that 215 students were unaccounted for in the aftermath of the assault, during which terrorists stormed the school in the early hours of Friday and abducted both students and staff.

According to the Diocese, the school comprises 430 pupils in the primary section and 199 students in the secondary arm. Many parents who rushed to the school after news of the attack broke were unable to locate their children, deepening fears over the scale of the abductions.

Rev. Yohanna also confirmed that 12 teachers—four female and eight male—were taken during the raid.

The Bishop dismissed claims by the Secretary to the State Government that the school had received prior security warnings before the attack. Through his aide, Daniel Atori, he stated that neither the Education Secretary nor the National Association of Private Schools received any such directive.

“We asked the Education Secretary if he received a circular—he said no. If he was asked to send any to us—he said no. If he was verbally informed—he also said no,” the Bishop said. “Let them tell the world who they gave the circular to and through which channel it was sent. They claimed the school was shut down and reopened recently; that is also not true. We are law abiding.”

Authorities have yet to release an official update on rescue operations as families and the wider community grapple with the escalating number of victims.