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Officials in Nigeria have secured the release of 100 abducted schoolchildren taken by armed men from a Catholic school in November, as stated by a source within the UN and regional news outlets this past Sunday. However, the situation of an additional one hundred and sixty-five students and staff presumed to remain under the control of kidnappers stayed unknown.

The Incident

In November, three hundred and fifteen students and staff were kidnapped from St Mary’s co-educational residential school in north-central Niger state, as the nation faced a wave of mass abductions echoing the infamous 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of female students in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Approximately 50 got away shortly afterward, which left two hundred and sixty-five thought to be still held.

Freedom for Some

The one hundred children are due to be handed over to local government officials this Monday, according to the source.

“They are going to be transferred to Niger state government tomorrow,” the individual told AFP.

Local media also confirmed that the liberation of 100 children had been secured, but did not provide information on if it was done through negotiation or a security operation, nor on the situation of the remaining students and staff.

The liberation of the youngsters was announced to the press by a government spokesperson an official.

Reaction

“For a long time we were praying and waiting for their release, should this be accurate then it is wonderful development,” said Daniel Atori, speaking for the local diocese of the Kontagora diocese which operates the institution.

“However, we are not officially aware and have not received proper notification by the government.”

Security Situation

Although abductions for money are common in the country as a way for criminals and armed groups to fund their activities, in a series of mass abductions in November, hundreds were seized, placing an critical attention on Nigeria’s deteriorating law and order crisis.

The nation confronts a protracted jihadist insurgency in the northeastern region, while armed bandit gangs perpetrate kidnappings and plunder villages in the northwestern region, and conflicts between agricultural and pastoral communities over scarce land and resources persist in the central belt.

On a smaller scale, armed groups associated with separatist movements also are active in the country’s restive south-east.

A Dark Legacy

A first large-scale abductions that garnered worldwide outrage was in 2014, when about three hundred schoolgirls were taken from their school in the northeastern town of Chibok by insurgents.

Ten years on, the country's hostage-taking crisis has “become a organized, profit-seeking enterprise” that raised around a significant sum between last year, as per a study by a Lagos-based consultancy.