Nigerian officials have secured the release of 100 schoolchildren who were among hundreds abducted by gunmen from a private Catholic boarding school last month. The children are expected to be handed over to local government authorities in Niger state on Monday, according to a United Nations source and local media reports.
A Wave of Mass Abductions
The incident occurred in November, when armed attackers stormed St Mary's co-educational boarding school in north-central Niger state. A total of 315 students and staff were initially taken captive in a brazen raid that echoed the infamous 2014 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping. While approximately 50 managed to escape shortly after the abduction, 265 were believed to remain in the hands of the kidnappers.
The release of the 100 children was confirmed to the AFP news agency by presidential spokesman Sunday Dare. However, details surrounding their liberation—whether it was achieved through negotiation, ransom payment, or military force—have not been disclosed. Crucially, the fate of the remaining 165 students and staff is still unknown, casting a shadow over the partial success.
Prayers for Return Amid Official Silence
Daniel Atori, a spokesman for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese which runs the school, expressed cautious hope. "We have been praying and waiting for their return, if it is true then it is cheering news," he said. He added, however, that the diocese had not been officially notified by the federal government about the development, highlighting a communication gap in the crisis response.
This mass kidnapping was part of a devastating spate of abductions across Nigeria in November, which saw hundreds of people seized. These events have sharply refocused attention on the country's severe and multifaceted security challenges.
Nigeria's Deepening Security Crisis
While kidnappings for ransom have become a common criminal enterprise in Nigeria, the scale and frequency have escalated dramatically. The country contends with a long-running jihadist insurgency in the north-east, rampant violence from armed bandit gangs in the north-west, and persistent clashes between farmers and herders in the central regions over land and resources.
A recent report by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, frames the crisis in stark economic terms. It suggests Nigeria's kidnap-for-ransom problem has "consolidated into a structured, profit-seeking industry", generating an estimated $1.66 million (£1.24 million) between July 2024 and June 2025 alone.
The 2014 abduction of nearly 300 girls from Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists first seared the issue of mass school kidnappings into the global consciousness. A decade later, the phenomenon persists, leaving communities in constant fear and underscoring the urgent need for effective and comprehensive security reforms.
