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Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 100 kidnapped pupils captured by gunmen from a religious school in November, as stated by a source within the UN and local media on Sunday. Nevertheless, the whereabouts of another one hundred and sixty-five hostages presumed to continue being held captive was uncertain.

The Incident

During November, 315 individuals were taken from a mixed residential school in central Niger state, as the nation faced a surge of mass abductions reminiscent of the well-known 2014 jihadist group abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok.

Some 50 got away in the immediate aftermath, which left two hundred and sixty-five thought to be still held.

Freedom for Some

The a hundred students are set to be released to state authorities this Monday, stated by the UN official.

“They will be handed over to the government tomorrow,” the source informed AFP.

Local media also stated that the freeing of 100 children had been achieved, without offering specifics on if it was achieved via talks or armed intervention, nor on the whereabouts of the remaining hostages.

The liberation of the 100 children was verified to the press by presidential spokesman an official.

Response

“For a long time we were praying and waiting for their safe arrival, if this is confirmed then it is positive news,” said a representative, spokesman for the local diocese of the religious authority which manages the school.

“Yet, we are not formally informed and have lacked official communication by the government.”

Broader Context

Although hostage-taking for cash are common in the nation as a way for criminals and armed groups to fund their activities, in a spate of large-scale kidnappings in last month, scores of individuals were abducted, casting an uncomfortable attention on the country's deteriorating security situation.

The country is grappling with a protracted Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while marauding gangs conduct abductions and plunder communities in the northwestern region, and conflicts between farmers and herders over scarce resources occur in the central belt.

On a smaller scale, militant factions associated with separatist movements also are active in the nation's volatile southeastern region.

A Dark Legacy

A earliest mass kidnappings that attracted global concern was in 2014, when almost three hundred schoolgirls were taken from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by insurgents.

A decade later, the country's hostage-taking problem has “become a systematic, revenue-generating industry” that collected about a significant sum between July 2024 and June 2025, according to a study by a Lagos-based consultancy.