Nigerian authorities say they have secured the release of 100 schoolchildren who had been abducted in a mass kidnapping from a Catholic boarding school last month.
The children, part of a larger group taken from St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, are expected to be handed over to state government officials on Monday, a UN source and local media said.
On 21 November, armed men stormed the boarding school and kidnapped 315 people — 303 students and 12 staff — in what has emerged as one of Nigeria’s largest school abductions in recent years. In the immediate aftermath, around 50 pupils managed to escape, but until now there had been no word on the remaining victims.
Eyewitnesses and officials said the 100 freed children — many between 10 and 17 years old — arrived in the state capital, Minna, escorted in buses and guarded by military vehicles, where they were received by state and local government authorities.
Though the release provoked relief and gratitude, the fate of at least 165 students and staff remains unclear. The government has not disclosed the method used to secure the release, whether via negotiations, ransom payment, or a security operation, leaving many questions unanswered.
Leaders of the school’s managing diocese described the news with cautious optimism, saying that while the return of the 100 children is “cheering,” they remain uneasy and still await official communication from the federal government.
The abduction — part of a spate of mass kidnappings triggered by criminal gangs, armed groups, and resource-based conflicts across multiple regions of Nigeria — has once again laid bare the nation’s deep security vulnerabilities. Analysts warn that kidnappings have become a structurally embedded, profit-driven industry.
As concerned parents across Niger State anxiously await confirmation that their children are among those freed, authorities face mounting pressure to act swiftly. The urgency is twofold: to rescue all those still in captivity, and to ensure lasting reforms that can protect students and teachers from future mass abductions.
