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Nigerian authorities have ensured the liberation of one hundred abducted schoolchildren captured by armed men from a Catholic school in November, according to a United Nations official and Nigerian press on Sunday. However, the situation of another one hundred and sixty-five students and staff believed to continue being in captivity stayed unknown.

The Incident

In November, three hundred and fifteen individuals were abducted from a mixed boarding school in central a Nigerian state, as the nation was gripped by a series of mass abductions echoing the infamous 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of female students in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Approximately 50 escaped soon after, which left 265 thought to be still held.

The Release

The 100 youngsters are scheduled to be released to state authorities on Monday, as per the UN official.

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

Local media also reported that the release of the students had been obtained, though they lacked specifics on whether it was achieved via dialogue or a security operation, or about the whereabouts of the still-missing students and staff.

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

Response

“For a long time we were praying and waiting for their safe arrival, should this be accurate then it is a cheering news,” said a spokesman, spokesman for the local diocese of the religious authority which runs the school.

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

Security Situation

While abductions for money are common in the country as a means for criminals and armed groups to generate revenue, in a series of large-scale kidnappings in last month, hundreds were abducted, placing an critical focus on the country's already grim security situation.

The country faces a long-running jihadist insurgency in the north-east, while criminal groups perpetrate kidnappings and plunder communities in the northwestern region, and clashes between agricultural and pastoral communities over scarce resources continue in the central belt.

Additionally, armed groups linked to secessionist agendas also haunt the country’s unsettled south-east.

Historical Precedent

A most prominent mass kidnappings that garnered worldwide outrage was in 2014, when nearly three hundred schoolgirls were abducted from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by insurgents.

A decade later, the country's hostage-taking issue has “become a systematic, profit-seeking industry” that generated about $$1.66m (£1.24m) between July 2024 and June 2025, stated in a study by a Lagos-based consultancy.