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‘Never knew such pain’: Parents desperate as over 250 school kids still missing in Nigeria
One of the parents described sleepless nights and constant worry, “I used to hear about abductions in news, but I never knew the pain until it happened to me.”
Two weeks after one of Nigeria’s worst school kidnappings, there has been no news of the more than 250 missing children. The identities of the kidnappers remain unknown; they are believed to be hiding in Nigeria’s dense forests, and no ransom has been demanded as of now.
Meanwhile, desperate and frustrated parents are fuming over what they see as a slow response from authorities.
“They (the police) are just telling us to exercise patience, that they are trying to rescue the children,” he said. “We are not happy with what is happening,” Sunday Gbazali said in talks in news agency Reuters. He works as a farmer and his 14-year-old son was among those seized on November 21 in a remote northern village.
He described sleepless nights and constant worry, “I used to hear about abductions in the news, but I never knew the pain until it happened to me.”
He added, voice cracking, “We don’t know if he is sick, healthy, or even alive. How can we find peace when we do not know his current condition?” His wife, he said, “cries constantly, barely sleeps.”
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As days pass, Emmanuel Bala, who chairs the school’s parent-teacher association and whose 13-year-old daughter is among the missing, said, “The government says that it's taking action, but up to now, we haven't got any information,” Reuters reported.
He described the past fortnight as unbearable. “The past two weeks have not been easy at all. It is not something that people can imagine. We are feeling deeply sad.”
Another parent, a civil servant in Niger state who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, said he had hoped for swift action after a meeting with national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu. “Unfortunately, days have passed, and we are left with little hope,” he said.
Government promises action
The attack has highlighted the persistent insecurity in Nigeria, more than a decade after the Chibok abductions, and has drawn international attention.
US President Donald Trump has previously criticized Nigeria for its alleged ill-treatment of Christians, accusations President Bola Tinubu denies.
Also Read | US to restrict visas of Nigerians responsible for violence against Christians, Rubio says
In response, Tinubu declared a nationwide security emergency last week and ordered the recruitment of thousands of additional army and police personnel to tackle rising violence across the country.
His national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, told local Catholic leaders in Kontagora on Monday that “the children are doing fine and will be back soon,” according to a statement by CAN in Niger state.
The kidnapping
The Christian Association of Nigeria reported that 303 children and 12 school staff were kidnapped by gunmen at St Mary’s Catholic boarding school in Papiri, a hamlet in Niger state, reported Reuters.
Fifty pupils managed to escape in the hours following the attack, but there has been no news on the rest. Some of the missing children are as young as six.
The school had only unarmed volunteer guards, who fled when the attackers arrived. The incident ranks among the worst mass kidnappings in Nigeria since the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok by Boko Haram.
