Niger govt faults school for ignoring security alert as gunmen abduct pupils in Agwara
By: Zagazola Makama
The Niger State Government has attributed Thursday’s attack on St. Mary’s Papiri Private Catholic Secondary School in Agwara Local Government Area to the school’s alleged failure to comply with a security advisory issued earlier in the month.
In a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Abubakar Usman, the government said it received the news of the mass abduction “with deep sadness,” noting that security agencies were still working to ascertain the exact number of kidnapped pupils and staff.
Usman said the government had, based on recent intelligence, ordered the suspension of boarding activities and halted all construction work in parts of Niger North Senatorial District due to heightened security threats.
“Despite a clear directive suspending boarding schools and other activities within the affected zone, St. Mary’s Papiri School reopened and resumed academic programmes without prior notice or clearance from the State Government,” the statement said.
The government added that the school’s action “exposed pupils and staff to avoidable danger,” given the security situation in the area.
According to local officials, armed men invaded the school in the early hours of Thursday in an attack that lasted for about an hour. Community members who visited the school after the incident described it as a coordinated assault carried out between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
