A Donegal nun has spoken of her deep anguish and urged people around the world to pray for the release of the students and staff who were abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria.
St Mary's Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, from where the children were taken from their dormitories by armed men, is managed by the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), which has links to Ireland.
Mary T Barron, who is Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of OLA, said: "We had the awful news from our community in Papiri in Niger state, where the children from our school, along with staff members were kidnapped."
Fifty of the 315 pupils who were abducted in the attack on the school have escaped, according to an update from the diocese this afternoon.
However 265 staff and students remain in captivity.
"I can't imagine the pain that the parents of those children in particular are feeling. Or the children whose parents have been taken, the adults who have been taken," she said.
"I have deep, deep anguish," said Sister Mary, who is originally from Galdonagh in Donegal.
"I am the leader of our congregation in the world and I feel anguished and powerless to do anything."
Describing what happened in the middle of the night, she said: "At around 1am in the morning a large group of armed bandits, as they're termed in Nigeria, arrived on motorbikes and with vans and went from dormitory to dormitory collecting the children. They tried to get to the convent but didn't manage to breach the convent but took as many children as they could."
She said initially there was a hope that some of the children had escaped into the bush "but they too were caught later".
None of the members of her congregation were among those taken: "Our Sisters were in the community at the time. We have six Sisters working in that community and none of them were taken. We're very grateful to God but our hearts are with the families and with the wider community in Papiri and around that area who have suffered their loved ones being taken," she said.
Of those initially kidnapped, she said 303 of them were children, some from the primary school and some from the secondary school.
Twelve staff - eight men and four women - were also taken.
Sr Mary has visited the Papiri community in the past as a leader. The school has been managed by OLA Sisters since it began.
Speaking from rural Ghana, where she is on a visit, she said the person with the most power to help secure their release is President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
"Please do all that you can to get the right people to act to secure the release and the safe return of all these people," she said.
Sr Mary explained that those in the congregation feel particularly powerless.
"We do know the power of prayer and there is a global prayer initiative which we encourage people to really join with us in praying that these people and all those held in captivity be safely returned to their families," she added.
She said she was being kept up to date by the diocese and by the local bishop who had been very meticulous about trying to find out what happened.
This week's attacks prompted President Tinubu to cancel planned trips to South Africa and Angola, where he was due to attend the G20 summit and the African Union-European Union summit.
In Rome, Pope Leo called for the release of kidnapped clergy and students in Nigeria following the recent surge there in kidnappings and banditry.
Residents in Nigeria are calling on the government to deploy more security forces to protect churches, schools, and public spaces.
