Outraged by the kidnapping of students and staff at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the act.
Reacting on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, he described the incident as “truly heartbreaking,” questioning, “How many more lives must be shattered before decisive action is taken?”
He urgently called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on insecurity without delay and confront the menace with the necessary urgency.
“It is not too late for the government to finally declare a state of emergency on insecurity and confront this menace with the urgency it deserves,” he stated.
Tension gripped the Papiri community following reports that armed men struck St. Mary’s Catholic School between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Friday, abducting an unconfirmed number of students and staff.
Sources within the Niger State Catholic Church confirmed the raid, though the precise count of victims is still being determined.
The Niger State Government revealed that the school had resumed operations despite a prior closure order, a decision they noted unnecessarily exposed students and staff to risk.
Police and military personnel have since been deployed to the area and are actively carrying out rescue operations.
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