Nigerian children as young as 5 among hundreds kidnapped, nun says

Many of the hundreds of children kidnapped from a Catholic schoolhouse successful Nigeria were arsenic young arsenic 5 years old, according to a nun who besides described however 50 of the students escaped implicit the weekend.

Mary Barron, the Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), described galore of the 303 children kidnapped from St. Mary's School in Nigeria’s Papiri assemblage connected Friday arsenic "tiny," the BBC reported.

"In this portion of the satellite wherever there's nary acquisition available, radical nonstop their children to boarding schoolhouse from nursery school, truthful you person precise tiny children, the bulk of the children that are missing are from the superior school," Barron said.

School officials said Sunday that 50 students, ages 10 to 18, escaped individually betwixt Friday and Saturday. A full of 253 students and 12 teachers were inactive being held, they said.

ARMED ATTACKERS IN NIGERIA KIDNAP 25 GIRLS FROM BOARDING SCHOOL

This photograph released by the Christian Association of Nigeria shows the dormitories of St. Mary's Catholic Primary and Secondary School aft gunmen abducted children and unit successful Papiri assemblage successful Nigeria, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Christian Association of Nigeria via AP)

Barron said the 50 children escaped their captors by jumping implicit a partition and moving into the bush.

"They said they walked and walked, due to the fact that they knew they couldn't locomotion backmost to the school, truthful they conscionable kept walking until they recovered thing familiar," she said.

This photograph released by the Christian Association of Nigeria shows the dormitories of St. Mary's Catholic Primary and Secondary School aft gunmen abducted children and unit successful Papiri assemblage successful Nigeria, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Christian Association of Nigeria via AP)

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No radical has travel guardant to assertion work for the attack, The Associated Press reported. The outlet added that authorities said tactical squads and section hunters were moving to rescue the kidnapped children.

It remains unclear wherever the remaining students and teachers were being held.

"I truly support anticipation alive," Barron said. "I truly judge if determination is simply a concerted effort if we get capable radical mobilized with the resources indispensable to effort to find these children, past it tin happen."

In this photograph released by the Christian Association of Nigeria, a antheral walks past belongings astatine the St. Mary's Catholic Primary and Secondary School aft gunmen abducted children and unit successful Papiri community, Nigeria, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Christian Association of Nigeria via AP)

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Nigeria has seen a bid of attacks connected Christians and their institutions, prompting President Donald Trump to state the West African federation a "country of peculiar concern." However, the Nigerian authorities has disputed the U.S.'s claims.

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Anders Hagstrom, on with The Associated Press contributed to this report.