By Juliana Uzoka

Saddened by the continued captivity of about 265 school children and their teachers abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, Niger State, on 29 November 2025, the Congregation of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), Rome, has issued a global outcry for their release and called for sustained prayers for God’s intervention.

Congregational Leader of OLA, Rome, Sr. Mary T. Barron, in a statement made available to journalists on 1 December 2025, expressed deep sorrow—a sentiment shared across the global Religious congregation with presence in 21 countries. The OLA Sisters oversee the Catholic school in Kontagora, Niger State, where the abduction of pupils, some as young as five, took place. She called for prayers and solidarity for the “grave situation” that has befallen “the congregation and the wider Church in Nigeria.”

Sr. Barron said untold suffering has been unleashed on the families and concerned people worldwide by the continued captivity, which has created “profound fear and uncertainty,” two agonising weeks after the abduction.

The call, made amid fervent prayers for the victims and recent assurances by the Federal Government to secure their release, has not assuaged the torment and outrage trailing the brazen cruelty of kidnapping young children from a supposedly safe school environment—a development that has generated widespread concern across societal and governmental structures.

Although the abducted persons were initially 316 in number, with about 50 managing to escape, parents and school management have remained hopeful for the safe return of the remaining children and their teachers.

“Families in Papiri are living with profound fear and uncertainty, waiting for news of their children,” the statement said.

The OLA global body added that it is journeying with the affected families in this painful moment.

“Our sisters in Nigeria, and across the 21 countries where we live and work, share in this anguish and are accompanying the community each day from afar,” the statement read.

The Congregation has appealed for intercessions for the children’s quick and safe release through sustained solidarity in prayer, noting that they are building a global prayer initiative inviting “the whole Church to unite in intercession for the liberation of the Papiri school community.”

The statement further expressed belief in the strength of “our communion expressed through prayers and solidarity,” emphasising that shared hope and united prayer can “bring hope to those who suffer and hasten the day of freedom for these children and their teachers.”

The Congregation appealed for collective and individual prayers for the Papiri community, called on those with access to information that may aid their release to share it widely for broader reach, and encouraged all people of goodwill to keep hope alive for God’s intervention.