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Officials in Nigeria have ensured the liberation of one hundred seized pupils captured by attackers from a Catholic school last month, as stated by a source within the UN and regional news outlets on Sunday. Yet, the fate of a further 165 hostages presumed to continue being held captive stayed unclear.

Background

In November, three hundred and fifteen people were taken from St Mary’s co-educational residential school in central Niger state, as the nation faced a wave of group seizures similar to the infamous 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of female students in Chibok.

Approximately fifty got away shortly afterward, which left 265 believed to be in captivity.

The Handover

The 100 youngsters are scheduled to be transferred to Niger state officials this Monday, as per the UN official.

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

Local media also confirmed that the freeing of the students had been secured, though they lacked specifics on if it was achieved via negotiation or armed intervention, and no details on the whereabouts of the remaining individuals.

The freeing of the youngsters was confirmed to AFP by an official representative an official.

Reaction

“We've been praying and waiting for their safe arrival, should this be accurate then it is a cheering news,” said Daniel Atori, spokesman for the local diocese of the religious authority which manages the institution.

“However, we are not formally informed and have lacked official communication by the national authorities.”

Security Situation

Although abductions for money are widespread in the nation as a means for criminals and armed groups to fund their activities, in a wave of large-scale kidnappings in November, many people were taken, putting an uncomfortable attention on the country's deteriorating law and order crisis.

The nation faces a protracted jihadist insurgency in the north-east, while armed bandit gangs conduct abductions and plunder communities in the north-west, and conflicts between agricultural and pastoral communities over diminishing resources persist in the middle belt.

Additionally, militant factions associated with separatist movements also operate in the nation's volatile south-east.

A Dark Legacy

Among the most prominent large-scale abductions that drew worldwide outrage was in 2014, when nearly 300 schoolgirls were taken from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

A decade later, Nigeria’s kidnap-for-ransom problem has “become a structured, revenue-generating enterprise” that raised around $$1.66m (£1.24m) between last year, stated in a recent report by a Lagos-based consultancy.