AhlulBayt News Agency: Nigerian authorities have announced the release of 100 schoolchildren who were abducted last month from a Catholic school, according to confirmation from a United Nations source and local media on Sunday.
Although the freed children have reached the capital Abuja, uncertainty remains over the fate of 165 other students and staff members believed to still be held captive.
The mass kidnapping took place in late November at St. Mary’s co-educational boarding school in Niger state, located in north-central Nigeria.
In total, 315 students and staff were initially taken, in an incident reminiscent of the notorious 2014 Boko Haram abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok.
Around 50 managed to escape shortly after the attack, leaving 265 presumed to be in captivity before this latest release.
The 100 children recently freed have now arrived in Abuja and are expected to be handed over to Niger state officials on Monday, according to the UN source.
“They will be handed over to the Niger state government tomorrow,” the source told AFP.
Local media also confirmed the release but did not clarify whether it was achieved through negotiations or military action, nor did they provide information on the status of those still in captivity.
Presidential spokesman Sunday Dare confirmed the freeing of the 100 children.
Daniel Atori, spokesman for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese, which runs the school, said: “We have been praying and waiting for their return. If it is true, then it is cheering news. However, we are not officially aware and have not been duly notified by the federal government.”
Kidnappings for ransom are widespread in Nigeria, often carried out by armed groups seeking quick profits. The wave of mass abductions in November has further exposed the country’s fragile security situation.
Nigeria continues to face a prolonged insurgency in the northeast, while armed bandit gangs carry out kidnappings and raids in the northwest.
In November alone, attackers abducted two dozen Muslim schoolgirls, 38 church worshippers, a bride and her bridesmaids, as well as farmers, women, and children.
The identity of those responsible for the St. Mary’s abduction remains unknown.
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