Freedom Secured for One Hundred Abducted Nigerian Schoolchildren, but A Large Number Remain Held

The country's government have obtained the freedom of a hundred abducted pupils captured by gunmen from a religious school the previous month, per reports from a United Nations official and regional news outlets this past Sunday. Yet, the situation of an additional one hundred and sixty-five students and staff presumed to continue being in captivity stayed uncertain.

Background

During November, 315 people were abducted from St Mary’s co-educational residential school in central Niger state, as the country was gripped by a surge of large-scale kidnappings similar to the well-known 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of female students in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Some fifty managed to flee soon after, resulting in 265 thought to be under kidnappers' control.

The Handover

The a hundred children are scheduled to be handed over to local government officials on Monday, as per the UN official.

“They are scheduled to be transferred to the government on Monday,” the source told AFP.

Local media also confirmed that the liberation of the students had been obtained, without offering details on whether it was achieved via talks or military force, and no details on the fate of the still-missing hostages.

The liberation of the youngsters was announced to AFP by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Statements

“We've been hoping and praying for their return, if it is true then it is a cheering news,” said a spokesman, speaking for the local diocese of the Kontagora diocese which operates the school.

“Yet, we are not officially aware and have not received proper notification by the national authorities.”

Broader Context

While hostage-taking for cash are widespread in the country as a method for criminals and armed groups to make quick cash, in a spate of large-scale kidnappings in November, hundreds were taken, putting an harsh attention on Nigeria’s serious state of safety.

The nation confronts a protracted Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while armed bandit gangs carry out kidnappings and raid communities in the north-west, and disputes between agricultural and pastoral communities over diminishing resources persist in the central belt.

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

The Chibok Shadow

A first mass kidnappings that garnered international attention was in 2014, when almost three hundred girls were abducted from their school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

Now, the country's hostage-taking crisis has “become a organized, revenue-generating business” that raised approximately $1.66 million dollars (£1.24m) between a recent twelve-month period, as per a analysis by a Nigerian consultancy.