Pope Leo XIV Urges Immediate Release of 315 Hostages Taken in Nigerian School Abductions

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday appealed for the freedom of more than 300 people abducted from a Catholic school in what has become one of Nigeria’s largest mass kidnappings in recent years.

“I learned with immense sadness the news of the kidnappings of priests, faithful, and students in Nigeria and Cameroon,” the Pope said during his address.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had on Saturday confirmed that over 300 students and teachers were seized during coordinated raids on two schools.

“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages,” Pope Leo XIV declared, lamenting “deep sorrow, especially for the many young boys and girls kidnapped and for their anguished families.”

He urged global prayers for protection, adding: “Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours and that churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope.”

The unrest escalated after gunmen stormed a girls’ secondary school in Kebbi State on Monday, abducting 25 students. Days later, attackers struck St. Mary’s co-educational school in Niger State, taking hundreds more.

The school kidnappings followed an assault on a church in western Nigeria that left two people dead and many abducted. The attacks occurred as U.S. President Donald Trump warned of possible military action over what he described as violent persecution of Christians by radical Islamist groups in Nigeria.

Nigeria is still grappling with the trauma of the 2014 Chibok abduction, where nearly 300 schoolgirls were taken by Boko Haram militants. A significant number of those girls remain missing more than a decade later.

Opinion Nigeria News