By Our Reporter

Amid controversy over the actual number of persons abducted last week, after  bandits attacked St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, in Niger State, the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora, Bulus Yohanna, has maintained that of the 315 persons kidnapped, 265 teachers and children are still with the terrorists.

Since the incident took place a week ago, the Niger State government had accused the school authority of not being honest with the exact figures of the victims of the attack.

However, reacting swiftly to the Niger State government accusation, Yohanna reiterated that the figure from the school authority was confirmed after the headcount.

He was speaking on Friday during an interview on ‘Sunrise Daily’, a programme on Channels Television.

According to him, the figures comprise 12 teachers and 253 schoolchildren, adding that the diocese has forwarded the names of the hostages to the Niger State Governor, Umar Bago.

“We had 303 pupils and students missing and 12 teachers also not seen. We added that number to make it 315 that cannot be accounted for after taking the headcount.

“Those that escaped went back home to their villages. When we started having calls of those that reunited with their parents, we were able to get 50 out of the 315, including staff and teachers who could not be accounted for, we deducted that number so we now have 265 as of now, that is the number that is missing,” the cleric said.

He called on the Federal Government to deploy security operatives to secure schools in the North-Central state.

Yohanna, who also chairs the Niger State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, said the abduction has become a source of worry for the parents of the kidnapped schoolgirls, disclosing that two parents have died of shock arising from the incident.