The country's government have secured the release of a hundred abducted schoolchildren taken by attackers from a educational institution the previous month, as stated by a source within the UN and local media this past Sunday. Yet, the fate of a further one hundred and sixty-five hostages believed to remain held captive was unclear.
The Incident
During November, three hundred and fifteen people were taken from St Mary’s mixed residential school in north-central a Nigerian state, as the country was gripped by a surge of mass abductions reminiscent of the well-known 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of schoolgirls in a town in north-east Nigeria.
Approximately 50 got away in the immediate aftermath, leaving two hundred and sixty-five thought to be still held.
Freedom for Some
The a hundred youngsters are scheduled to be handed over to local government officials this Monday, stated by the United Nations source.
“They are scheduled to be transferred to the government tomorrow,” the source stated to a news agency.
Regional reports also confirmed that the liberation of the students had been achieved, without offering details on if it was the result of talks or armed intervention, nor on the whereabouts of the remaining students and staff.
The liberation of the students was confirmed to AFP by a government spokesperson an official.
Reaction
“We have been hoping and praying for their safe arrival, should this be accurate then it is positive development,” said a representative, representing the local diocese of the religious authority which manages the institution.
“Yet, we are without official confirmation and have not received proper notification by the government.”
Wider Crisis
Though hostage-taking for cash are prevalent in the country as a means for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a wave of large-scale kidnappings in November, hundreds were seized, casting an harsh attention on Nigeria’s already grim security situation.
The nation faces a years-long jihadist insurgency in the north-east, while marauding gangs perpetrate abductions and loot villages in the north-west, and conflicts between farmers and herders regarding diminishing farmland continue in the central belt.
Furthermore, armed groups connected to secessionist agendas also operate in the nation's volatile southeastern region.
A Dark Legacy
One of the earliest large-scale abductions that attracted worldwide outrage was in 2014, when about three hundred schoolgirls were snatched from their school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.
Ten years on, Nigeria’s hostage-taking crisis has “evolved into a systematic, revenue-generating industry” that generated around a significant sum between a recent twelve-month period, according to a recent report by a Nigerian consultancy.
