Release Achieved for A Hundred Kidnapped Nigerian Pupils, however Many Are Still Captive
Officials in Nigeria have secured the release of one hundred seized students captured by armed men from a Catholic school in November, according to a source within the UN and Nigerian press on Sunday. However, the whereabouts of a further 165 hostages presumed to continue being under the control of kidnappers was uncertain.
Context
Last month, 315 individuals were abducted from a co-educational residential school in north-central Niger state, as the country buckled under a series of group seizures similar to the notorious 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok.
Approximately 50 got away shortly afterward, resulting in 265 believed to be still held.
The Handover
The a hundred youngsters are due to be handed over to state authorities on Monday, according to the UN official.
“They are going to be transferred to Niger state government on Monday,” the individual informed a news agency.
News outlets also stated that the liberation of the hostages had been achieved, but did not provide specifics on whether it was achieved via dialogue or military force, and no details on the situation of the other hostages.
The liberation of the 100 children was announced to the press by presidential spokesman an official.
Response
“For a long time we were praying and waiting for their return, should this be accurate then it is a cheering development,” said a spokesman, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which runs the institution.
“Yet, we are not officially aware and have not been duly notified by the government.”
Broader Context
Though abductions for money are widespread in the nation as a means for illegal actors to fund their activities, in a spate of large-scale kidnappings in November, many people were abducted, putting an critical spotlight on Nigeria’s deteriorating state of safety.
The nation is grappling with a years-long Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while criminal groups carry out kidnappings and raid communities in the northwestern region, and conflicts between agricultural and pastoral communities regarding diminishing land and resources persist in the country’s centre.
On a smaller scale, armed groups connected to separatist movements also are active in the nation's restive south-east.
The Chibok Shadow
Among the first large-scale abductions that attracted global concern was in 2014, when nearly 300 female students were abducted from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.
Now, Nigeria’s hostage-taking problem has “evolved into a structured, profit-seeking enterprise” that collected approximately a significant sum between a recent twelve-month period, as per a study by a Nigerian research firm.