The Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) have renewed an urgent appeal to the global community to intervene in the abduction of learners and staff of St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri. They said that 165 people, including children as young as five, have now spent four weeks in captivity following their abduction on 21 November.
In a press statement shared with Vatican News, the OLA Sisters said the prolonged captivity of the remaining victims continues to cause profound anguish among families, the local community, and the religious congregation that manages the school. The institution is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora, a suffragan of the Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province.
According to the statement, armed attackers stormed the school community in the early hours of 21 November, abducting a total of 265 learners and staff from their dormitories. While 100 of those abducted were released on 14 December, 165 people remain in the custody of their captors.
Those still being held include 11 staff members, 35 nursery school children, and 119 primary school pupils aged between five and 12 or 13 years. The Sisters said the children were taken at night and are not adequately clothed, adding that they are being kept in “atrocious conditions” in the forest.
“It was with great joy that we welcomed the news on 14 December that 100 people had been freed,” said Sr. Mary T. Barron, Congregation Leader of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles. “However, this joy is tempered by ongoing anguish and concern for the safety of the remaining 165. How much longer must their suffering endure?”
Sr. Barron said the congregation, together with supporters around the world, continues to pray for the protection and safe return of those in captivity, while expressing gratitude for the solidarity already shown.
“We are most grateful for the immense support we have received to date, and we ask all religious congregations, Catholic institutions, faith communities, and people of goodwill around the world not to relent in our efforts to support this community through fervent prayer,” she said.
Beyond prayer, the OLA Sisters issued a direct appeal to political leaders and those with influence to assist Nigeria’s Federal Government in securing the immediate release of the abducted children and staff.
“We appeal to all those who hold political power and influence to come to the aid of the Federal Government in Nigeria so that these innocent children may return to their communities immediately,” Sr. Barron said. Quoting the adage that “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing,” she added: “We beg all those who have the power to act to please do so in the interest of the safety and well-being of all these children.”
