'They said they'd shoot us': Nigerian child recalls how he was taken in mass school abduction

PAPIRI, Nigeria (AP) — The children at St. Mary Catholic School in Nigeria's Papiri community were jolted from their sleep with a loud crash at the school gate. Half asleep and confused, they dashed out of their dorms, some landing in the hands of gunmen.

Onyeka Chieme, an elementary school student, waited with bated breath as the loud thuds got nearer. Upon seeing men armed with guns, he recalled jumping through the window with some friends. The gunmen gave chase on motorbikes, shooting into the air and startling him and the others to a halt.

“They said if we ran, they would shoot us,” Chieme told The Associated Press during a visit to his family in Papiri in the north-central Niger State. They watched in horror as the gunmen set fire to a statue of Mary and a Nigerian flag before carting the children away on motorbikes and in buses.

Chieme is one of the 303 schoolchildren — many of them between 10 and 17 years old — and 12 teachers abducted from the school on Nov. 21 in one of the country's biggest mass school abductions. The attack came days after 25 students were abducted in similar circumstances in the neighboring Kebbi state.

Fifty of the Niger State students escaped in the hours that followed the attack and more than two weeks after, Chieme was freed on Sunday together with 99 others. However, 153 are still held with the teachers, among them Chieme's brother.

The Nigerian government did not say how they were released or whether any suspect had been arrested. Arrests are rare and ransom payments common in such cases, and authorities have provided vague information about rescue efforts.

“On the first night we got there, I thought they were going to kill us,” Chieme said from his home as his parents watched. “But their leader said we should not fear, it is just money that they wanted. If they paid the money, they would release everyone to go home.”

Chieme described harrowing experiences during the more than two weeks in the bush, where the abducted students and staff were forced to sleep in the open. They were separated, he said, with the older ones blindfolded and their hands tied.

Every day, they woke up on the stubby grass with food and water from a nearby river. Those who did not keep quiet were often beaten, and guns were never out of sight, he said.

Occasionally, aircraft would fly above them, and the gunmen would instruct them to hide beneath trees to avoid being discovered.

“They don’t want the airplanes to see us,” Chieme said, referring to Nigerian military jets that officials said were searching forests for the children. Analysts say the gangs use captives as shields to avoid being bombarded.

Nigeria fights multiple armed groups operating across the country. They include deadly religious sects, including Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province, as well as amorphous groups popularly called bandits who ride en masse on motorbikes to attack communities and kidnap people for ransom.

After attacks, communities and families pay ransoms to the bandits, sometimes millions of naira (thousands of dollars). No group has claimed responsibility for the Papiri abduction.

On the day of their release, Chieme said the students were asked to form a queue. Some of them, terrified that it meant a punishment, ran to the back of the line. The gunmen counted the first 100 students, took them out of the bush, before transferring them onto military buses.

The other 153 and the teachers were left behind, including his brother, he said. Their fates are not known.

AP could not independently verify his account.

School abductions have defined the security crises in Nigeria, where armed groups have targeted schools to attract more ransom and attention.

Nearly 1,800 schoolchildren have been abducted in almost a dozen school attacks since 2014, when Boko Haram extremists made global headlines after kidnapping 276 girls from their school in the northeastern Chibok village.

Analysts say the Nigerian government negotiates with armed groups and pays ransom for the release of the children to temper outrage. Officials have not admitted to ransom payments.

“When you do that (pay ransoms), it encourages the abductions to continue,” Aisha Yesufu, an activist and co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls movement. The group is still seeking the release of nearly 100 Chibok girls held since the 2014 attack.

The abductions have added another layer of worry to Nigeria's underfunded education sector. The country has the world's highest out-of-school children population. One in every five out-of-school children is in Nigeria, according to UNICEF.

In Papiri and other parts of Nigeria affected by insecurity, families are becoming reluctant to send their children to school.

Chieme's return has left his family with mixed feelings. The parents are happy he is back, but continue to worry about his brother still in the bush.

“If he dies, I don't think I can survive it,” said Anthony Chieme, his father.

“It is better my child dies in my room where I see his corpse and his grave than die in the hands of bandits in the bush where you see nothing.”

Precious Njikonye, another parent, said she often visited the school since last month's attack, hoping to see her son one day. This week, her hope materialized when he was among the 100 freed on Sunday and they were reunited.

“Everyone who has a child ... knows how painful it is to not be able to account for where the child is," she said, overwhelmed with relief. “I never thought I would see him again.”

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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

Onyeka Chieme, right, a student of St. Mary's Catholic School, who was abducted by gunmen and later released, checks a mobile phone in his house in Papiri, Nigeria, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Afolabi Sotunde)

Precious Njikonye, right, the mother of a student at St. Mary's Catholic School, who was abducted by gunmen and later released, sits outside her house in Papiri, Nigeria, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Afolabi Sotunde)

Onyeka Chieme, a student of St. Mary's Catholic School, who was abducted by gunmen and later released, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Papiri, in Nigeria, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Afolabi Sotunde)

Precious Njikonye, centre, the mother of a student at St. Mary's Catholic School, who was abducted by gunmen and later released, sits outside her house in Papiri, Nigeria, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Afolabi Sotunde)

Onyeka Chieme, a student of St. Mary's Catholic School, abducted by gunmen and later released, poses for a photograph at his house in Papiri, Nigeria, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Afolabi Sotunde)

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s government resigned on Thursday after mass protests gripped the country and just weeks before the European Union nation is due to join the eurozone.

The resignation of the minority coalition, led by the center-right GERB party, was announced minutes before parliament was scheduled to vote on a no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition over economic mismanagement and supported by growing public anger with widespread corruption.

“Ahead of today’s vote of no confidence, the government is resigning,” Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told reporters in parliament.

The demonstrations on Wednesday came after last week’s protests that were sparked by the government’s budget plans for higher taxes, increased social security contributions and spending increases. The government later withdrew the contentious 2026 budget plan.

The protesters’ demands had expanded to include calls for the center-right government to step down.

“The decisions of the National Assembly are meaningful when they reflect the will of the people," Zhelyazkov said, referring to the anti-government protests. “We want to be where society expects us to be.”

Students from Sofia’s universities had joined the protests, which organizers said outnumbered last week’s rallies that drew more than 50,000 people. Media estimates based on drone visuals put the number of protesters at over 100,000.

At the core of the protesters’ frustrations is the role of Bulgarian politician and oligarch Delyan Peevski, who has been sanctioned by both the United States and the United Kingdom, and whose MRF New Beginning party backs the government. Peevski has been accused by opponents of helping shaping government policy in line with oligarchic interests.

“We have no doubt that the government will receive support in the upcoming vote of no confidence. Regardless, the decisions of the National Assembly are important when they reflect the will of the sovereign,” the prime minister said.

Zhelyazkov’s government survived six votes of no confidence since it was appointed in January, but this time the large turnout of protesters on the streets was a game changer.

The resignation will be formally submitted to parliament on Friday, which must adopt a resolution to accept it. After this formal procedure, President Rumen Radev will give the biggest group in parliament the chance to form a new government. If it fails, the second-largest grouping will get a chance before the president choses a candidate.

If all attempts fail — which is likely — he will appoint a caretaker Cabinet until a new election is held. Political analysts expect that another vote — the eighth since 2021 — will likely produce a similar deeply fragmented parliament facing an uphill task to form a stable government.

The leader of the opposition We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria coalition called the government’s resignation “the first step in making Bulgaria a normal European state.” “The next step along this path is to conduct fair and free elections rather than elections compromised by vote manipulation as in the previous campaign,” he added.

The Balkan country of 6.4 million people is due to make the switch from its national currency, the lev, to the euro on Jan. 1, to become the eurozone's 21st member. Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007.

Protesters light their phone's as torches as a swelling crowd of tens of thousands of Bulgarians filled Sofia's central square, demanding the government's resignation amid rising anger over corruption and contested economic policies, Sofia, Bulgaria, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

A student waves a Bulgarian flag as a swelling crowd of tens of thousands of Bulgarians filled Sofia's central square, demanding the government's resignation amid rising anger over corruption and contested economic policies, Sofia, Bulgaria, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)