Pope Leo XIV has issued a strong appeal for the urgent release of more than 300 people abducted during a wave of mass kidnappings at schools in Nigeria, describing the events as deeply distressing. Speaking after the Angelus prayer at the Vatican on Sunday, the Pontiff said he received the news “with immense sadness,” noting that both Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon had suffered similar attacks targeting priests, worshippers and students.
The Christian Association of Nigeria had announced on Saturday that gunmen carried out coordinated assaults on two schools, seizing hundreds of students and teachers. The Pope expressed particular sorrow for the many children taken and the anguish faced by their families.
“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages,” he said, calling for prayers to ensure that churches and schools remain secure places of hope rather than targets of violence.
The recent surge in abductions began on Monday when armed men invaded a secondary school in Kebbi State, kidnapping 25 girls. By Friday, another large group of students was taken during an attack on St. Mary’s co-education school in Niger State. These incidents followed a violent assault on a church in Kwara State, where two people were killed and dozens abducted.
The escalating attacks have drawn international attention. In the United States, President Donald Trump has threatened military intervention over what he calls the persecution of Christians by extremist groups in Nigeria.
Nigeria has struggled for years with school kidnappings, the most infamous being the 2014 Chibok abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by Boko Haram. Many of those girls remain unaccounted for, underscoring the country’s ongoing security crisis.
