Parents of the students abducted from St. Mary Catholic Schools, Papiri, in Agwarra Local Government Area of Niger State, on Saturday staged a peaceful protest, accusing the state government of neglect and slow response, eight days after the incident.
More than 200 parents gathered at the school premises, where they registered their names and those of their missing children as part of a documentation exercise initiated by the government.
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Some parents travelled for several hours—many on motorcycles—to participate.
Gunmen had on 21 November attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School, abducting over 300 pupils and 12 teachers.
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The attack occurred just days after the kidnapping of 26 schoolgirls in another part of the state.
About 50 students reportedly escaped after two days in captivity, but the majority remain held by the gunmen.
Despite assurances from state and federal authorities that special security forces had been deployed, the protesting parents said no official from the Niger State Government had visited or contacted them since the incident.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Bring Back Our Girls,” “Is Education a Crime?” and “Our Children Are Still in Captivity,” the parents accused the government of silence and inaction.
The Director of Communication for the school, Stephen Okafor, stated that the registration exercise was carried out at the directive of the state government.
He noted that the massive turnout should dispel what he described as “negative speculations” about the abduction.
Another cleric, Linus Arege, stated that at least 215 parents and guardians had been documented, adding that officials from the Agwarra Local Government and the Catholic Diocese supervised the process.
One of the parents, Joseph Dimas, whose son Julius, a JSS 2 student, is still missing, criticised the government for initially denying the abduction.
Another parent, Emmanuel Ejeh, said he never expected such an attack, noting that his two older children completed their studies at the school without any incident.
The Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese and proprietor of the school, Bulus Yohanna, expressed optimism that the abducted students and staff would be rescued soon.
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He appealed for prayers, describing the task of mobilising parents from more than 50 affected communities as difficult.
The school principal, Felicia Gyam, dismissed rumours that the school received prior warnings.
“There was no such notification. Anyone making that claim should present evidence,” she said.
The headmistress, Blessing Amodu, said the ordeal had been emotionally draining, urging the authorities to intensify efforts to rescue the pupils and their teachers.
Efforts to obtain comments from the Niger State Government were unsuccessful, as messages sent to the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Bologi Ibrahim, had yet to be responded to as of the time of filing this report.
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