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Nigerian authorities have obtained the freedom of 100 kidnapped schoolchildren captured by armed men from a religious school in November, as stated by a UN source and local media this past Sunday. Yet, the whereabouts of an additional one hundred and sixty-five individuals presumed to remain under the control of kidnappers was unknown.

Background

In November, three hundred and fifteen students and staff were kidnapped from St Mary’s co-educational boarding school in central Niger state, as the nation buckled under a surge of group seizures similar to the well-known 2014 jihadist group abduction of schoolgirls in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Some 50 managed to flee soon after, resulting in two hundred and sixty-five presumed under kidnappers' control.

Freedom for Some

The a hundred youngsters are due to be released to local government officials this Monday, stated by the United Nations source.

“They are going to be handed over to Niger state government tomorrow,” the source told AFP.

Local media also confirmed that the liberation of the hostages had been achieved, without offering specifics on if it was done through dialogue or a security operation, or about the whereabouts of the remaining students and staff.

The liberation of the 100 children was confirmed to the press by an official representative Sunday Dare.

Statements

“We have been praying and waiting for their safe arrival, should this be accurate then it is wonderful event,” said a representative, speaking for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which manages the institution.

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

Wider Crisis

While abductions for money are common in the country as a way for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a series of mass abductions in November, scores of individuals were seized, casting an uncomfortable focus on the country's already grim state of safety.

The nation is grappling with a protracted Islamist militant uprising in the north-east, while criminal groups conduct kidnappings and plunder villages in the north-west, and conflicts between farmers and herders regarding scarce resources persist in the country’s centre.

Furthermore, armed groups connected to secessionist agendas also are active in the nation's volatile south-east.

A Dark Legacy

One of the most prominent large-scale abductions that attracted global concern was in 2014, when about 300 girls were abducted from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

Ten years on, Nigeria’s hostage-taking issue has “become a organized, revenue-generating industry” that generated approximately a significant sum between July 2024 and June 2025, stated in a study by a Nigerian consultancy.