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Officials in Nigeria have secured the release of a hundred abducted schoolchildren seized by attackers from a Catholic school the previous month, per reports from a UN source and regional news outlets on Sunday. Nevertheless, the situation of an additional one hundred and sixty-five individuals presumed to remain under the control of kidnappers stayed unclear.

The Incident

In November, three hundred and fifteen individuals were kidnapped from a co-educational boarding school in central Niger state, as the nation buckled under a wave of large-scale kidnappings similar to the well-known 2014 Boko Haram abduction of schoolgirls in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Some fifty escaped in the immediate aftermath, leaving two hundred and sixty-five believed to be under kidnappers' control.

The Release

The one hundred children are due to be released to Niger state officials this Monday, according to the source.

“They are going to be transferred to Niger state government on Monday,” the official told AFP.

Local media also reported that the freeing of 100 children had been obtained, though they lacked information on if it was the result of talks or military force, or about the fate of the remaining hostages.

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

Reaction

“We have been praying and waiting for their release, if this is confirmed then it is positive news,” said a representative, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese which runs the school.

“Yet, we are not formally informed and have lacked official communication by the government.”

Security Situation

Although kidnappings for ransom are common in the nation as a way for gangs and militants to make quick cash, in a series of mass abductions in November, many people were seized, casting an critical focus on the country's already grim state of safety.

The country confronts a long-running Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while armed bandit gangs perpetrate kidnappings and plunder villages in the north-west, and conflicts between agricultural and pastoral communities concerning dwindling land and resources persist in the middle belt.

Additionally, armed groups linked to separatist movements also haunt the nation's restive south-east.

Historical Precedent

A most prominent mass kidnappings that drew global concern was in 2014, when almost 300 girls were taken from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

Now, the country's hostage-taking crisis has “evolved into a systematic, revenue-generating industry” that generated about a significant sum between July 2024 and June 2025, according to a recent report by a Lagos-based research firm.