Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 130 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic boarding school in Niger state, officials confirmed Sunday. The latest release follows the freeing of around 100 captives earlier this month, bringing officials closer to resolving the mass kidnapping.
Presidential spokesman Sunday Dare announced on social media that no abducted pupils from the school remain in captivity. Gunmen stormed St Mary’s co-educational boarding school in the rural hamlet of Papiri in late November, seizing students and staff.
Confusion has surrounded the exact number taken, with churches, government officials, and aid sources offering conflicting figures since the attack. The Christian Association of Nigeria said 315 people were kidnapped, while about 50 reportedly escaped during the initial chaos.
A UN source said the remaining freed students would be transported to Minna, the Niger state capital, early this week. Authorities have not disclosed who carried out the abduction or how negotiations for the children’s release were conducted.
Security analysts say past rescues suggest ransom payments, despite Nigerian law formally banning such transactions. The abductions came amid a surge of mass kidnappings across Nigeria, targeting schools, churches, weddings, farmers, and rural communities.
Nigeria faces overlapping security threats, including jihadist insurgencies and criminal banditry driven by profit and weak rural policing. Analysts warn kidnapping has evolved into an organised industry, echoing memories of the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls abduction. The crisis has drawn international attention, as Nigeria’s government rejects foreign claims framing the violence as religious genocide.