In the early hours of 21 November 2025, armed men stormed St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in the Papiri community of Niger State, abducting an estimated303 students and 12 teachersafter arriving around 2:00 a.m. on motorbikes and in vehicles.

Subsequent updates indicate that about 50 abducted students later escaped and made their way back, leaving roughly253 children and 12 staff still missing. Parents and relatives have gathered at the school to register missing children and demand action as the scale of the abduction has become clearer.

The Papiri abduction is one of Nigeria’s worst mass school kidnappings since Chibok and part of a renewed wave of school and church attacks across northern Nigeria, including the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Kebbi State and the abduction of worshippers in Kwara State. The operation fits a familiar pattern in which heavily armed “bandit” networks raid rural schools at night, seize large groups for ransom, and melt into difficult terrain, as outlined in recent analysis of who is behind the kidnappings and why schools are being targeted.

Authorities have responded by shutting schools across Niger State and other northern regions, deepening an education crisis in which repeated attacks and prolonged closures are pushing a generation of children out of classrooms. Christian institutions, which often serve as both education centers and community hubs, are shouldering a growing share of this pressure as shown in recent coverage ofattacks on Christian schools and the wider fallout for Christian communities.

For Christian stakeholders, St. Mary’s is both a local emergency and a signal event in a sustained threat to faith-linked education and child-focused ministry in northern and central Nigeria.

What this means: The St. Mary’s kidnapping confirms that Christian schools in Nigeria’s north-central and northwest remain prime kidnap targets, especially boarding facilities in rural or peri-urban areas with predictable routines and limited on-site security. Recent case histories of large school abductions across northern Nigeria show the same pattern of night raids, overwhelmed guards, and rapid movement into forest and bush. The Catholic identity of St. Mary’s and its links to church networks likely increased its perceived value for ransom and leverage, consistent with the broader trend in targeting of Christian education institutions.

Who’s at risk: Catholic and other Christian schools, seminaries, boarding houses, and co-located churches or rectories in Niger, Kebbi, Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, and adjacent states face heightened risk of mass abduction and compound raids. Recent incidents have clustered along known bandit corridors, with multiple coordinated kidnappings from schools and churches in the same period, leaving short-term mission teams and education ministries near forests, informal mining zones, or poorly policed rural areas particularly exposed.

Outlook: Further large-scale kidnappings are likely in the near to medium term. Financial incentives, entrenched impunity, and hard-to-secure terrain mean armed groups will continue to see Christian schools as attractive targets, even as Abuja rolls out emergency security measures and new deployments in response to the latest abductions. Christian organizations should assume a prolonged high-threat environment and prioritize layered security around schools and dorms, clear movement and curfew protocols, and preplanned crisis-management and survivor-care frameworks developed with trusted local partners.

MEKET, ETHIOPIA – Artillery shelling by regime forces in Meket, Amhara killed one person and injured another. The incident affected civilians in a predominantly Christian region of Ethiopia.

NASARAWA, NIGERIA – Armed attackers disrupted a church crusade in a community in Nasarawa State.

ABUJA, NIGERIA – A Nigerian church member was abducted, and the kidnappers demanded motorbikes for the victim's release.

ABUJA, NIGERIA – Over 300 children and 12 teachers were kidnapped during an attack on a school in Nigeria.

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LA ROMAINE, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – A burglary and assault occurred at the St Benedict’s RC Church presbytery in La Romaine.

JABOATÃO DOS GUARARAPES, BRAZIL – A church deacon was shot and killed during a service in Jaboatão dos Guararapes.

ARIZONA, UNITED STATES – An Arizona man was sentenced for planning an attack targeting Christian churches.

PASADENA, UNITED STATES – Threats were made against a church pastor and congregation in Pasadena.

BILLINGS, UNITED STATES – A historic AME church in Billings, Montana was vandalized.

CLEVELAND, UNITED STATES – Multiple car break-ins were reported during Sunday church services in Cleveland.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – A Sudanese refugee threatened a Christian street preacher at Speakers' Corner.

LAINDON, UNITED KINGDOM – A deliberate fire was set at a church in Laindon, Essex that had previously been repeatedly vandalized.

YORK, UNITED KINGDOM – Vandalism was reported at St Michael Le Belfrey Church in York.

KALININGRAD REGION, RUSSIA – Authorities reportedly foiled an attempted attack on a Russian Orthodox church in the Kaliningrad region.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Bomb and mass‑shooting threats were made against a church event in Sydney.

NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA – A bomb threat was issued against a church in New South Wales that was hosting a Falun Gong–related documentary screening.

Please pray for believers in the Agboda community of Mararaba Udege, Nasarawa State, Nigeria, where an evening church crusade was abruptly suspended after unidentified armed men attacked the area. One participant was injured, and panic spread among worshippers as word circulated that a nearby community had also been targeted. Local organizers describe this as part of a recurring pattern of insecurity that is disrupting church life and public ministry in the region.

Pray that the Lord would protect His people in Nigeria, calming fear and restoring peace. Ask God to bring complete physical and emotional healing to the person who was injured. Pray for pastors, evangelists, and organizers of the crusade—that they would not lose heart, but be filled with courage, wisdom, and steadfast faith to continue the work God has given them. Also ask that those responsible for the violence would be restrained and that authorities would act justly to address insecurity in the area.

Above all, pray that, even through this attack and the disruption it caused, the gospel would continue to advance, and that many in Nigeria would be drawn to Christ as they see the Church respond with hope, love, and trust in God.

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