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The country's government have ensured the liberation of a hundred seized schoolchildren seized by attackers from a Catholic school in November, according to a United Nations official and regional news outlets on Sunday. Yet, the situation of another 165 students and staff thought to remain in captivity stayed unclear.

The Incident

In November, 315 students and staff were taken from a mixed boarding school in central Niger state, as the nation was gripped by a series of group seizures echoing the well-known 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of female students in Chibok.

Around 50 got away shortly afterward, resulting in two hundred and sixty-five believed to be in captivity.

Freedom for Some

The 100 youngsters are due to be handed over to state authorities this Monday, as per the UN official.

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

News outlets also reported that the liberation of 100 children had been obtained, though they lacked information on whether it was achieved via negotiation or military force, or about the fate of the other students and staff.

The release of the students was announced to AFP by an official representative an official.

Reaction

“We've been anxiously awaiting for their return, if it is true then it is a cheering development,” said a spokesman, speaking for the local diocese of the Kontagora diocese which runs the institution.

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

Wider Crisis

Though abductions for money are widespread in the nation as a method for criminals and armed groups to generate revenue, in a series of mass abductions in last month, hundreds were abducted, casting an harsh attention on Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation.

The nation confronts a protracted jihadist insurgency in the northeastern region, while marauding gangs perpetrate kidnappings and loot villages in the north-west, and disputes between agricultural and pastoral communities regarding dwindling land and resources occur in the country’s centre.

On a smaller scale, armed groups associated with separatist movements also are active in the nation's volatile southeastern region.

Historical Precedent

Among the first mass kidnappings that attracted international attention was in 2014, when almost three hundred female students were taken from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by insurgents.

A decade later, Nigeria’s hostage-taking problem has “become a structured, profit-seeking industry” that raised about a significant sum between July 2024 and June 2025, as per a recent report by a Nigerian research firm.