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Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 100 abducted schoolchildren taken by gunmen from a educational institution in November, according to a United Nations official and regional news outlets on Sunday. Nevertheless, the whereabouts of a further one hundred and sixty-five individuals believed to still be held captive stayed uncertain.

Context

During November, three hundred and fifteen students and staff were taken from a mixed residential school in north-central a Nigerian state, as the country faced a surge of group seizures reminiscent of the infamous 2014 jihadist group abduction of female students in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Around 50 got away shortly afterward, which left two hundred and sixty-five believed to be under kidnappers' control.

Freedom for Some

The a hundred children are due to be transferred to state authorities this Monday, according to the UN official.

“They are scheduled to be released to Niger state government on Monday,” the official told a news agency.

Local media also stated that the liberation of the hostages had been achieved, though they lacked information on if it was the result of dialogue or a security operation, and no details on the whereabouts of the remaining hostages.

The release of the 100 children was announced to AFP by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Reaction

“We have been praying and waiting for their return, if this is confirmed then it is positive news,” said a representative, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese which manages the institution.

“Nevertheless, we are not formally informed and have lacked official communication by the national authorities.”

Broader Context

While kidnappings for ransom are prevalent in the country as a method for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a wave of large-scale kidnappings in November, scores of individuals were abducted, placing an harsh attention on Nigeria’s serious security situation.

The nation faces a long-running jihadist insurgency in the north-east, while armed bandit gangs carry out kidnappings and raid communities in the north-west, and disputes between agricultural and pastoral communities regarding scarce farmland continue in the country’s centre.

On a smaller scale, militant factions connected to secessionist agendas also are active in the nation's unsettled south-east.

The Chibok Shadow

A earliest mass kidnappings that drew global concern was in 2014, when about three hundred schoolgirls were snatched from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

Ten years on, Nigeria’s hostage-taking problem has “become a organized, profit-seeking business” that collected around $$1.66m (£1.24m) between last year, stated in a recent report by a Lagos-based research firm.