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Nigerian authorities have ensured the liberation of one hundred seized schoolchildren captured by gunmen from a educational institution the previous month, as stated by a UN source and regional news outlets on Sunday. However, the whereabouts of another 165 individuals thought to continue being held captive stayed uncertain.

Context

During November, 315 students and staff were abducted from a co-educational residential school in north-central Niger state, as the country faced a wave of large-scale kidnappings echoing the infamous 2014 Boko Haram abduction of schoolgirls in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Around 50 escaped in the immediate aftermath, leaving two hundred and sixty-five presumed under kidnappers' control.

Freedom for Some

The one hundred youngsters are scheduled to be transferred to local government officials this Monday, according to the source.

“They are scheduled to be transferred to Niger state government on Monday,” the source stated to a news agency.

Regional reports also stated that the liberation of the hostages had been obtained, but did not provide specifics on whether it was achieved via dialogue or a security operation, and no details on the whereabouts of the other hostages.

The release of the youngsters was announced to the press by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Statements

“For a long time we were hoping and praying for their return, if this is confirmed then it is positive development,” said a representative, speaking for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese which operates the institution.

“Yet, we are without official confirmation and have not been duly notified by the government.”

Security Situation

Although abductions for money are common in the nation as a means for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a wave of large-scale kidnappings in last month, many people were taken, casting an critical spotlight on the country's serious state of safety.

The country faces a years-long Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while criminal groups carry out kidnappings and loot villages in the northwestern region, and disputes between farmers and herders concerning diminishing farmland persist in the middle belt.

Additionally, militant factions associated with secessionist agendas also haunt the country’s unsettled south-east.

Historical Precedent

One of the earliest mass kidnappings that attracted worldwide outrage was in 2014, when nearly 300 girls were abducted from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

A decade later, the country's hostage-taking problem has “consolidated into a organized, revenue-generating industry” that raised around a significant sum between July 2024 and June 2025, stated in a analysis by a Lagos-based research firm.