Gunmen abducted 303 children and 12 teachers in an attack on St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in Nigeria. Initial reports indicated that at least 52 had been kidnapped before the tally was increased to over 200 children and then to its final count of 303.

Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna said in a statement that the total number of kidnapped was determined “after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out,” according to The Associated Press. Yohanna is the chairman of the Niger state chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who visited the school on Friday. The AP noted that the students who were kidnapped were male and female and ranged in age from 10 to 18.

GUNMEN ATTACK CHURCH IN NIGERIA, KILLING TWO AND KIDNAPPING OTHERS

No group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack, according to the AP. The outlet added that authorities said tactical squads and local hunters were working to rescue the kidnapped children.

After the attack, the state government said that St. Mary’s School reopened despite warnings of increased threats. However, Yohanna denied this claim, the AP reported.

“We did not receive any circular. It must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame,” he said, according to the AP.

RAP STAR NICKI MINAJ THANKS TRUMP FOR ADDRESSING PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA

The attack at St. Mary’s follows a similar incident earlier this week in which armed attackers kidnapped 25 girls from a boarding school in Nigeria’s Kebbi State and killed at least one staffer. The search for the abducted schoolgirls is still underway.

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Nigeria has seen a series of attacks on Christians and their institutions, prompting President Donald Trump to declare the West African nation a “country of particular concern.” However, the Nigerian government has disputed the U.S.’s claims.

On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz held an event highlighting the ongoing violence in Nigeria. During the event, Waltz called the killings of Christians in Nigeria “genocide wearing the mask of chaos.” He was joined by rap superstar Nicki Minaj, who called for religious freedom for all.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The former president is taken in the capital Brasilia days before starting his prison time for leading coup attempt.

Brazil’s federal police have arrested former President Jair Bolsonaro, days before he was set to begin his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt, according to his lawyer and a close aide.

Bolsonaro, who has been under house arrest since August, was transferred to detention on Saturday, his lawyer said.

“He has been imprisoned, but I don’t know why,” Celso Vilardi, one of his lawyers, told the AFP news agency.

A close aide told The Associated Press news agency that the embattled former leader was taken to the police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia.

Bolsonaro’s aide Andriely Cirino confirmed to AP that the arrest took place at about 6am (03:00 GMT) on Saturday.

The force said in a short statement, which did not name Bolsonaro, that it acted on the request of Brazil’s Supreme Court.

Neither Brazil’s federal police nor the Supreme Court provided more details at the time of publication.

Sentenced for coup attempt

The 70-year-old former president was taken from his house in a gated community in the upscale Jardim Botanico neighbourhood to the federal police headquarters, Cirino said.

Local media reported that Bolsonaro, who was Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022, was expected to begin serving his sentence sometime next week after the far-right leader exhausted all appeals of his conviction for leading a coup attempt.

The 70-year-old Bolsonaro’s legal team had previously argued that he should serve his 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid in 2022 at home, arguing imprisonment would pose a risk to his health.

Bolsonaro was convicted in September over his bid to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power following the 2022 election, which he lost.

The effort saw crowds of rioters storm government buildings a week after Lula’s inauguration, evoking comparisons with the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol after his close ally, President Donald Trump, lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

Trump has branded the prosecution of his far-right ally a “witch-hunt” and made it a major issue in US relations with Brazil, imposing stiff tariffs on the country as a form of retribution.

Trump and Lula held what Brazil described as a constructive meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur last month, raising hope for improved relations after stinging US tariffs.

Lula said the meeting with Trump was “great” and added that their countries’ negotiating teams would get to work “immediately” to tackle tariffs and other issues.