The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State Chapter, has set aside reports that kidnappers of the 315 students and staff of the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, in the Agwarra local government area of the state, had demanded the sum of ?3 billion before the victims can be released.

Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter, Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, gave the update on Saturday.

According to him, the gunmen had yet to make any contact with anyone after the incident.

“You know social media. If you go there, they will mislead you. Even some of the things that flying around… That’s why we usually make official statement. I am not aware. No contact yet,” Bishop Bulus concluded.

He had earlier said the total number of victims abducted by suspected terrorists was 315.

A breakdown of newly released data showed that 303 students and 12 teachers were affected.

Yohanna said, “After we left the school at Papiri, we decided to make calls, do a verification exercise, and do further enquiries on those we had thought escaped successfully, only to discover that 88 more students were also captured after they tried to escape.

“Our attention was drawn to when some parents whose children we had thought escaped from the attack also came asking about their children. We became curious, and that was when we did a census and discovered that they were abducted.

“This now makes it 303 students (male and female), including 12 teachers (4 females and 8 males), bringing the total number of abducted persons to 315.”

He said the total of pupils and students before the incident was 629, with primary having 430 and the secondary having 199 students.

He also addressed the widely reported notion that there were intelligent reports before the abduction.

“Also, it is very pertinent that we address the issue of prior warnings from either the government or security agencies, as peddled in some quarters.

“I have just got back to the village this night after I visited the school where I also met with parents of the children to assure them that we are working with the government and Security agencies to see that our children are rescued and brought back safely but was gritted with what I term “propaganda” that the school was given a prior warning by the government through a circular.

“That is not true, we did not receive any circular, it must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame. In the past, around 2022, when we heard of rumours of a security challenge, we did not hesitate; we shut down immediately. Is it when there is a circular from the government asking us to shut down that we will now not obey?”

Reacting to rising security concerns in the country, the Federal Government has ordered the immediate closure of 41 Federal Unity Colleges.

The directive was issued through a circular dated November 21, 2025, from the Federal Ministry of Education.

According to the document, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, approved the shutdown following “recent security challenges” in parts of the country and the need to prevent breaches.

The circular asked principals of affected schools to enforce the closure without delay. The 41 schools are in states across the North-West, North-East, North-Central, and parts of the South. (Channels)