🔗 Share this article

Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 100 abducted schoolchildren captured by gunmen from a Catholic school the previous month, as stated by a United Nations official and Nigerian press on Sunday. Nevertheless, the whereabouts of another one hundred and sixty-five students and staff thought to still be under the control of kidnappers was unclear.

Context

Last month, 315 students and staff were abducted from a mixed residential school in central Niger state, as the country faced a surge of large-scale kidnappings similar to the notorious 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of schoolgirls in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Some 50 managed to flee in the immediate aftermath, which left two hundred and sixty-five believed to be still held.

Freedom for Some

The 100 students are scheduled to be released to local government officials on Monday, stated by the UN official.

“They are scheduled to be released to state authorities tomorrow,” the individual told AFP.

Regional reports also reported that the release of the hostages had been secured, but did not provide specifics on whether it was achieved via negotiation or military force, and no details on the situation of the other hostages.

The liberation of the students was announced to the press by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Reaction

“We've been praying and waiting for their safe arrival, if it is true then it is positive development,” said a spokesman, speaking for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which manages the school.

“However, we are not formally informed and have not received proper notification by the federal government.”

Broader Context

Though kidnappings for ransom are prevalent in the country as a way for criminals and armed groups to generate revenue, in a wave of large-scale kidnappings in November, many people were seized, putting an uncomfortable spotlight on Nigeria’s already grim security situation.

The country faces a protracted jihadist insurgency in the north-east, while marauding gangs perpetrate abductions and raid communities in the north-west, and conflicts between agricultural and pastoral communities regarding dwindling resources continue in the middle belt.

Furthermore, armed groups associated with secessionist agendas also are active in the nation's restive south-east.

A Dark Legacy

One of the earliest mass kidnappings that garnered worldwide outrage was in 2014, when nearly 300 female students were snatched from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

A decade later, Nigeria’s kidnap-for-ransom problem has “become a structured, revenue-generating industry” that collected approximately a significant sum between last year, according to a analysis by a Lagos-based research firm.