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The country's government have ensured the liberation of a hundred abducted students seized by gunmen from a religious school the previous month, per reports from a source within the UN and Nigerian press this past Sunday. Yet, the fate of an additional one hundred and sixty-five individuals believed to still be in captivity was unknown.

Background

During November, 315 students and staff were kidnapped from a co-educational boarding school in north-central Niger state, as the nation faced a series of group seizures echoing the notorious 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of female students in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Approximately 50 managed to flee shortly afterward, leaving two hundred and sixty-five thought to be in captivity.

The Handover

The a hundred youngsters are set to be transferred to Niger state officials this Monday, as per the source.

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

News outlets also reported that the liberation of the hostages had been secured, but did not provide information on whether it was done through negotiation or armed intervention, or about the fate of the still-missing hostages.

The liberation of the 100 children was verified to AFP by a government spokesperson an official.

Reaction

“We have been hoping and praying for their return, if it is true then it is wonderful event,” said a spokesman, spokesman for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which runs the school.

“However, we are not formally informed and have not received proper notification by the federal government.”

Wider Crisis

Though abductions for money are prevalent in the nation as a method for illegal actors to fund their activities, in a series of large-scale kidnappings in November, scores of individuals were seized, casting an harsh attention on Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation.

The nation is grappling with a long-running Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while criminal groups conduct abductions and raid communities in the northwestern region, and clashes between agricultural and pastoral communities regarding diminishing land and resources occur in the central belt.

Furthermore, armed groups linked to separatist movements also operate in the nation's restive southeastern region.

A Dark Legacy

A most prominent mass kidnappings that drew worldwide outrage was in 2014, when nearly 300 female students were abducted from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

Now, the country's kidnap-for-ransom problem has “become a systematic, profit-seeking enterprise” that collected about a significant sum between a recent twelve-month period, stated in a recent report by a Nigerian research firm.