Parents Demand Answers as Government Remains Silent
Frustration and anguish grip the remote community of Papiri in Nigeria's Niger state, where parents of more than 300 abducted schoolchildren accuse the government of leaving them completely in the dark about rescue efforts. The mass kidnapping, which took place on Friday, represents the latest in a devastating series of such attacks targeting educational institutions.
Emmanuel Ejeh, whose 12-year-old son Mathew was among those seized from the Catholic school, told The Associated Press that authorities have provided no information. "Nobody from the government has briefed us about the abduction," Ejeh stated, revealing the immense emotional toll the situation has taken. His wife fainted upon hearing the news, and he described his son as a "very kind boy who dreams of becoming a football player."
A Deepening Crisis and Human Cost
The psychological strain on the families has proven fatal. Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, the bishop of Kontagora diocese who runs the school, confirmed that two parents of abducted children have died, with one succumbing to a heart attack directly linked to the stress of the situation.
While no armed group has yet claimed responsibility for seizing the 303 children, fifty students have managed to escape their captors. The attack occurred just days after gunmen abducted 25 students in the nearby Kebbi state, though authorities later reported that all of those children had been rescued and reunited with their families.
Parents have gathered at the dusty school compound, seeking comfort from one another amidst the uncertainty. Yohanna Yakubu, a church pastor whose daughter Mercy was among the twelve teachers also taken, described the scene as one of pure agony. He found her dormitory room window broken and expressed profound frustration at the lack of official communication.
Systemic Failures and International Scrutiny
This abduction marks a grim resurgence of mass school seizures, which had decreased over the past two years. An Associated Press tally shows that at least 1,799 students have been abducted in a dozen major attacks since the infamous 2014 Chibok incident, where Boko Haram militants seized 276 schoolgirls.
Analysts note that armed gangs, including bandits and militants linked to al-Qaida or the Islamic State group, frequently target schools to pressure the government into paying ransoms. James Barnett, a research fellow with the U.S.-based Hudson Institute, explained that the crisis has become more complex as groups from across the Sahel region attempt to establish a foothold in northern Nigeria.
In response to the Chibok outrage, the Nigerian government launched a Safe School Initiative, pledging to deploy military assets and train staff to improve security. However, it remains unclear whether the Papiri school received this training. A UNICEF report last year revealed that just 37% of schools across ten states in Nigeria's volatile north have early-warning systems to detect threats.
Activist Aisha Yesufu, who co-founded the Bring Back Our Girls movement, was scathing in her criticism: "The fact is that Nigerian lives do not matter to the Nigerian government, and what matters to the Nigerian government is how good they look, so they are more focused on propaganda."
A spokesperson for Nigeria's presidency, Bayo Onanuga, did not directly address parents' allegations when contacted by the AP. He stated that the military is "mounting pressure on the gunmen to release the children," confirming that helicopters and ground troops have been deployed to the area.
