Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic boarding school last month, a United Nations source and local media said on Sunday. The whereabouts of another 165 students and staff believed still to be in captivity remained unclear.
In November, gunmen seized 315 students and staff from St Mary’s co-educational boarding school in north-central Niger state. About 50 of the abductees escaped soon after the attack, leaving 265 believed to be held; the release of 100 people would reduce that number to 165.
The UN source told AFP the 100 children were due to be handed over to Niger state government officials on Monday. Local reports confirmed the planned transfer but did not say whether the freed children were released following negotiations, military action or other measures, and provided no details about the remaining captives.
Presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare confirmed the freeing of the 100 children to AFP. Daniel Atori, spokesperson for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese that runs St Mary’s, said the diocese had been praying and waiting for news and had not received official notification from the federal government.
Kidnapping for ransom is widespread in Nigeria, where criminals and armed groups have turned abduction into a lucrative business. November’s wave of mass kidnappings, which affected hundreds of people, highlighted a deteriorating security situation across the country.
Nigeria faces multiple, overlapping security challenges: a long-running jihadist insurgency in the northeast; armed bandit gangs carrying out kidnappings and raids in the northwest; violent clashes between farmers and herders over land and resources in central regions; and armed groups linked to separatist movements in parts of the southeast.
One of the earlier mass abductions to draw global attention was the 2014 Boko Haram seizure of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Chibok. A recent report by Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence described Nigeria’s kidnap-for-ransom crisis as having “consolidated into a structured, profit-seeking industry,” estimating it generated about $1.66 million between July 2024 and June 2025.
Authorities and families continue to seek information on the remaining captives, while officials have not released full details about how the 100 children were freed or the status of negotiations or security operations related to the case.