🔗 Share this article

Officials in Nigeria have secured the release of one hundred abducted students captured by attackers from a educational institution the previous month, according to a source within the UN and regional news outlets on Sunday. Nevertheless, the fate of a further one hundred and sixty-five hostages thought to continue being held captive stayed uncertain.

Context

During November, three hundred and fifteen students and staff were kidnapped from St Mary’s mixed boarding school in north-central Niger state, as the nation faced a surge of large-scale kidnappings echoing the notorious 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of female students in Chibok.

Some 50 managed to flee in the immediate aftermath, resulting in 265 thought to be still held.

The Release

The 100 students are due to be handed over to local government officials on Monday, according to the source.

“They will be transferred to Niger state government tomorrow,” the official told a news agency.

Local media also reported that the liberation of 100 children had been secured, but did not provide information on whether it was done through negotiation or military force, and no details on the fate of the other students and staff.

The liberation of the 100 children was announced to the press by an official representative an official.

Reaction

“We've been praying and waiting for their safe arrival, if this is confirmed then it is positive development,” said Daniel Atori, speaking for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which runs the institution.

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

Wider Crisis

While kidnappings for ransom are widespread in the nation as a method for criminals and armed groups to generate revenue, in a spate of large-scale kidnappings in last month, many people were seized, putting an harsh attention on the country's serious state of safety.

The nation faces a years-long Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while armed bandit gangs carry out abductions and plunder villages in the north-west, and clashes between agricultural and pastoral communities concerning scarce resources persist in the country’s centre.

On a smaller scale, militant factions associated with separatist movements also operate in the nation's volatile southeastern region.

A Dark Legacy

Among the earliest large-scale abductions that drew worldwide outrage was in 2014, when nearly 300 female students were abducted from their school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

A decade later, the country's kidnap-for-ransom crisis has “consolidated into a systematic, profit-seeking industry” that raised about a significant sum between last year, as per a recent report by a Lagos-based consultancy.