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Officials in Nigeria have secured the release of one hundred kidnapped pupils captured by armed men from a religious school the previous month, as stated by a UN source and Nigerian press on Sunday. However, the whereabouts of an additional 165 individuals presumed to continue being held captive stayed unknown.

The Incident

During November, three hundred and fifteen individuals were kidnapped from St Mary’s mixed boarding school in central Niger state, as the country was gripped by a series of large-scale kidnappings reminiscent of the infamous 2014 Boko Haram abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok.

Around fifty got away in the immediate aftermath, leaving two hundred and sixty-five presumed still held.

Freedom for Some

The 100 children are scheduled to be handed over to Niger state officials on Monday, according to the source.

“They will be released to Niger state government on Monday,” the source told a news agency.

Regional reports also confirmed that the liberation of the students had been secured, but did not provide information on whether it was the result of negotiation or a security operation, nor on the whereabouts of the remaining hostages.

The release of the youngsters was announced to AFP by an official representative Sunday Dare.

Reaction

“We've been praying and waiting for their safe arrival, should this be accurate then it is wonderful event,” said a representative, speaking for the local diocese of the Kontagora diocese which manages the school.

“Nevertheless, we are without official confirmation and have lacked official communication by the federal government.”

Security Situation

Although hostage-taking for cash are widespread in the nation as a method for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a series of large-scale kidnappings in November, many people were seized, placing an critical spotlight on the country's already grim law and order crisis.

The country faces a long-running Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while criminal groups conduct kidnappings and loot villages in the north-west, and conflicts between farmers and herders concerning scarce land and resources continue in the middle belt.

Additionally, militant factions linked to secessionist agendas also operate in the nation's unsettled southeastern region.

A Dark Legacy

A earliest large-scale abductions that drew global concern was in 2014, when nearly 300 schoolgirls were abducted from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

A decade later, Nigeria’s kidnap-for-ransom issue has “become a organized, profit-seeking business” that generated around a significant sum between a recent twelve-month period, stated in a recent report by a Lagos-based research firm.