A father has told the BBC he felt powerless as he witnessed gunmen on motorbikes abduct dozens of children, including his son, after storming a Catholic boarding school in northern Nigeria in the early hours of Friday.
The father said he was asleep when he was awoken by the noise of the gunmen as they went past his home with the children they had seized from St Mary's school in Papiri village in Niger state.
They [the children] were being trafficked on foot the way shepherds control their herds. Some children were falling and the men would kick them and instruct them to stand up.
The gunmen were on about 50 motorcycle bikes while controlling them, said the father, whose name we have changed to Theo for his safety.
Speaking to the BBC in the dormitory where his son used to sleep, Theo said he was in no position to stop the abduction. I felt like going [to help] but I thought better of it. Even if I did go, what could I do? I couldn't do anything, he told the BBC, adding that he called the police but it was too late by the time they arrived.
The Christian Association of Nigeria has said that 303 students and 12 members of staff were taken from the school, but that 50 of the children managed to escape and have been reunited with their families.
The school was run by the chairman of the association's Niger chapter, who has shared a list of those abducted with the BBC.
However, police said they were only aware of a few children escaping on the night of the abduction and could not confirm that 50 more had escaped.
The Niger state governor, Umar Bago, told local media that the number of abducted students had been exaggerated, and it was far, far below 303.
The governor blamed the school authorities for opening the establishment despite threats by unknown gunmen four years ago, and again two months ago.
The schools in that area have been closed for four years now. I was surprised to learn the school is still open, Bago said.
He also insisted that the attack was just a scare and that all students would be rescued sooner or later.
Along with some other parents, Theo has been camping outside the school, angry with the government's response to the abductions. Our children were kidnapped but the government doesn't seem to pay attention to it, said Theo.
He expressed frustration over the state governor not visiting the school despite the ongoing crisis, concluding that the government has abandoned them.
The pain being endured by the parents of those children who are still missing is all too evident. I am sad, my whole life is filled with sadness, a mother said, whose son was among those abducted.
The situation in northern Niger has become a hotspot for kidnappings, with many gangs using the local forests as hideouts. This abduction was the third in a week, as previous incidents involved schoolgirls and churchgoers being kidnapped.
Moreover, President Bola Tinubu has had to prioritize the security crisis, cancelling his trip to a G20 summit in South Africa to address the pressing situation at home.
