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Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped several students and staff from a Catholic school early Friday, the latest attack on a Christian institution.
Nigerian news outlet Arise TV said 52 children were abducted from St. Mary’s School. The Catholic institution is in Papiri community of Agwara local government, according to The Associated Press, citing Abubakar Usman, secretary to the Niger state government. The outlet said Osman did not say how many children were abducted in the attack.
Niger state police command said it had deployed military and security forces to the area where the attack occurred early Friday, AP reported. Additionally, the Niger State Police Command stated that St. Mary’s educates students aged 12–17.
A security guard was “fatally shot” in the attack, according to the AP, which cited a statement issued by the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora.
Gunmen attack church in Nigeria, kill two and abduct others
A drone view of Christians leaving St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church after Sunday mass in Palmgrove, Lagos, Nigeria, on November 2, 2025. (Sodik Adelakun/Reuters)
According to Arise TV, following the attack, Osman issued a statement condemning the kidnapping and saying that St. Mary’s took the decision to reopen despite prior security intelligence warnings of increased threats.
“Regrettably, St. Mary’s School resumed academic activities without informing or obtaining approval from the state government, exposing students and staff to avoidable risk,” the statement said.
The attack on St Mary’s follows a similar incident earlier this week in which armed assailants abducted 25 girls and killed at least one staff member from a boarding school in Nigeria’s Kebbi state. The search for the kidnapped schoolgirls is still going on.
On Wednesday, gunmen attacked Christ Apostolic Church, killing at least two people and abducting a pastor and 38 worshippers, according to Reuters. In a video of the attack, which was reviewed and verified by Reuters, armed men are seen entering the church and taking away worshippers’ belongings amid gunfire. The outlet later reported that a church official said the gunmen demanded a ransom of 100 million naira (about $69,000) per worshipper.
In this photo obtained from social media, gunmen enter a church in Eruku, Kwara state, Nigeria, November 18, 2025, picking up belongings left behind by worshipers who ran for cover after hearing gunshots. (Via social media/Reuters)
Rap star Nicki Minaj thanks Trump for addressing persecution of Christians in Nigeria
Nigeria has seen a series of attacks on Christians, leading President Donald Trump to declare the West African nation a “country of particular concern” over the persecution of Christians. However, the Nigerian government has denied the US claims.
On Tuesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz held an event highlighting the ongoing violence in Nigeria. During the program, Waltz called the killings of Christians in Nigeria “genocide masquerading as anarchy.”
Waltz said, “Friends, our entire faith is being wiped out, one bullet at a time, one Bible burned at a time.”
Nicki Minaj is welcomed by US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz before a panel discussion titled “Combating Religious Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria” at the US Mission to the United Nations on November 18, 2025 in New York City. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
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Rap superstar Nicki Minaj, who has been vocal about her support for the Trump administration’s efforts to combat persecution of Christians in Nigeria, spoke at Waltz’s program. Minaj lamented that “families are torn apart, and entire communities live in constant fear, just because of how they pray.”
Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan and Paul Tilsley contributed to this report.
