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Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 100 seized schoolchildren taken by armed men from a educational institution in November, per reports from a source within the UN and regional news outlets this past Sunday. Nevertheless, the situation of an additional 165 students and staff believed to still be in captivity was unknown.

Context

During November, three hundred and fifteen individuals were kidnapped from St Mary’s co-educational residential school in central a Nigerian state, as the nation faced a wave of large-scale kidnappings echoing the infamous 2014 jihadist group abduction of female students in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Approximately fifty got away soon after, leaving two hundred and sixty-five presumed in captivity.

The Handover

The a hundred students are due to be released to Niger state officials this Monday, according to the source.

“They will be released to Niger state government on Monday,” the source stated to AFP.

Regional reports also confirmed that the liberation of the students had been achieved, without offering details on if it was done through dialogue or armed intervention, nor on the situation of the other individuals.

The liberation of the students was confirmed to AFP by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Statements

“We've been anxiously awaiting for their safe arrival, if it is true then it is a cheering development,” said a representative, spokesman for the local diocese of the Kontagora diocese which manages the school.

“However, we are not officially aware and have not been duly notified by the government.”

Security Situation

Though abductions for money are widespread in the country as a method for criminals and armed groups to fund their activities, in a wave of mass abductions in November, many people were seized, putting an uncomfortable spotlight on the country's serious law and order crisis.

The nation is grappling with a protracted jihadist insurgency in the northeastern region, while marauding gangs conduct abductions and plunder villages in the northwestern region, and disputes between agricultural and pastoral communities concerning dwindling resources persist in the central belt.

Additionally, armed groups associated with secessionist agendas also operate in the country’s volatile south-east.

A Dark Legacy

One of the first mass kidnappings that drew global concern was in 2014, when about 300 female students were snatched from their school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

Ten years on, the country's hostage-taking crisis has “evolved into a organized, profit-seeking enterprise” that raised about $1.66 million dollars (£1.24m) between last year, stated in a study by a Nigerian consultancy.