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Officials in Nigeria have obtained the freedom of one hundred seized schoolchildren taken by armed men from a Catholic school in November, per reports from a United Nations official and regional news outlets on Sunday. However, the situation of another 165 hostages believed to remain held captive remained uncertain.

Context

In November, three hundred and fifteen students and staff were taken from St Mary’s mixed residential school in central Niger state, as the nation faced a surge of group seizures echoing the notorious 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of female students in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Approximately 50 escaped in the immediate aftermath, leaving 265 presumed still held.

The Release

The 100 children are scheduled to be released to local government officials this Monday, according to the UN official.

“They will be released to the government tomorrow,” the official stated to a news agency.

Local media also confirmed that the release of the hostages had been achieved, without offering information on whether it was the result of dialogue or armed intervention, or about the whereabouts of the other hostages.

The liberation of the students was verified to AFP by presidential spokesman Sunday Dare.

Response

“For a long time we were praying and waiting for their return, should this be accurate then it is wonderful development,” said a spokesman, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which operates the school.

“Nevertheless, we are without official confirmation and have not been duly notified by the national authorities.”

Broader Context

While abductions for money are prevalent in the country as a way for gangs and militants to make quick cash, in a series of mass abductions in last month, many people were seized, putting an critical spotlight on Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation.

The country confronts a years-long jihadist insurgency in the northeastern region, while criminal groups perpetrate kidnappings and loot villages in the northwestern region, and clashes between farmers and herders over scarce land and resources continue in the middle belt.

On a smaller scale, militant factions linked to secessionist agendas also operate in the nation's volatile south-east.

The Chibok Shadow

A most prominent mass kidnappings that drew global concern was in 2014, when nearly three hundred schoolgirls were taken from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by insurgents.

Now, Nigeria’s kidnap-for-ransom problem has “evolved into a systematic, profit-seeking business” that collected about $$1.66m (£1.24m) between July 2024 and June 2025, as per a analysis by a Nigerian consultancy.