Residents of Papiri community say bandits sent two prior warning letters to St. Mary’s Catholic Missionary School before the attack that led to the mass abduction of students in Niger State.
Residents of Papiri in Niger State have revealed that bandits sent two warning letters to St. Mary’s Catholic Missionary School before Thursday’s attack, with one letter reportedly prompting the relocation of foreign missionaries.
According to community sources, the school initially engaged local vigilantes for protection but later disengaged them when no further threats came, a move they now regret. “After the bandits wrote that they were coming, the management decided to engage the services of local vigilantes… but after some time when the management didn’t hear anything again, they decided to disengage the vigilantes,” one source said.
Residents also recalled a previous deadly attack in the area, including an ambush that killed six soldiers.
The source added that most abducted victims were from the primary section, as secondary students escaped through the fence, and that “nobody can tell the exact number of students that were kidnapped.”
The bandits’ truck reportedly broke down, forcing them to march the captives into the bush, and an APC youth leader, Alhaji Musa, was among those taken. Soldiers were said to have arrived around 9 a.m., hours after the attackers had fled.