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Officials in Nigeria have secured the release of 100 seized pupils seized by gunmen from a religious school last month, as stated by a UN source and local media this past Sunday. However, the whereabouts of an additional one hundred and sixty-five individuals believed to remain under the control of kidnappers was unknown.

Context

During November, 315 individuals were taken from a mixed boarding school in north-central a Nigerian state, as the country buckled under a series of large-scale kidnappings echoing the infamous 2014 Boko Haram abduction of female students in Chibok.

Some 50 managed to flee shortly afterward, resulting in two hundred and sixty-five thought to be under kidnappers' control.

The Handover

The 100 youngsters are due to be transferred to Niger state officials on Monday, as per the source.

“They are scheduled to be released to state authorities tomorrow,” the individual told AFP.

Local media also confirmed that the freeing of the hostages had been secured, without offering specifics on whether it was done through negotiation or armed intervention, and no details on the whereabouts of the still-missing hostages.

The release of the students was announced to AFP by an official representative an official.

Statements

“For a long time we were anxiously awaiting for their return, if this is confirmed then it is wonderful development,” said Daniel Atori, spokesman for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese which operates the institution.

“Yet, we are not formally informed and have not been duly notified by the government.”

Wider Crisis

While abductions for money are prevalent in the nation as a means for criminals and armed groups to generate revenue, in a wave of mass abductions in November, scores of individuals were taken, putting an harsh spotlight on the country's already grim law and order crisis.

The country is grappling with a years-long Islamist militant uprising in the north-east, while armed bandit gangs conduct kidnappings and loot communities in the north-west, and disputes between farmers and herders regarding dwindling land and resources occur in the middle belt.

On a smaller scale, militant factions linked to secessionist agendas also haunt the country’s unsettled south-east.

A Dark Legacy

One of the most prominent mass kidnappings that drew global concern was in 2014, when about three hundred female students were snatched from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by insurgents.

Now, the country's kidnap-for-ransom issue has “become a systematic, revenue-generating enterprise” that collected about $1.66 million dollars (£1.24m) between July 2024 and June 2025, stated in a recent report by a Lagos-based research firm.