Nigeria suffered its second mass school abduction this week with authorities confirming an attack on a Catholic school in the conflict-battered northern region of the country on Nov. 21.
It wasn't immediately confirmed who the attackers were or the number of students abducted at St. Mary’s School in Niger state's Papiri community. Local media broadcaster Arise TV said that 52 schoolchildren were seized.
The attack happened three days after 25 srudents were abducted in neighboring Kebbi state.
School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and analysts say it's often because armed gangs see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention.
The school kidnappings and an attack on a church earlier this week come weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he described as the targeted killings of Nigeria's Christians, a narrative rejected by the Nigerian government.
Kidnappers in the past have included Boko Haram that carried out the mass abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago, bringing the extremist group to global attention.
But dozens of bandit groups have become active in the hard-hit northern region, often targeting remote villages with a limited security and government presence.
At least 1,500 students have been seized in the years since that Chibok attack, many released only after ransoms were paid.
