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Officials in Nigeria have secured the release of 100 seized schoolchildren seized by armed men from a Catholic school last month, according to a source within the UN and regional news outlets on Sunday. However, the fate of an additional one hundred and sixty-five students and staff presumed to still be in captivity stayed uncertain.

The Incident

Last month, three hundred and fifteen people were abducted from St Mary’s mixed boarding school in central a Nigerian state, as the nation was gripped by a wave of mass abductions reminiscent of the well-known 2014 Boko Haram abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok.

Some fifty got away in the immediate aftermath, resulting in two hundred and sixty-five believed to be still held.

The Handover

The 100 youngsters are set to be handed over to state authorities on Monday, stated by the UN official.

“They are scheduled to be transferred to state authorities tomorrow,” the official told AFP.

Regional reports also reported that the liberation of the hostages had been obtained, but did not provide details on if it was achieved via negotiation or armed intervention, nor on the fate of the remaining students and staff.

The freeing of the students was verified to AFP by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Response

“We've been praying and waiting for their safe arrival, should this be accurate then it is a cheering news,” said a spokesman, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese which operates the institution.

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

Security Situation

Though kidnappings for ransom are widespread in the country as a way for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a series of large-scale kidnappings in November, scores of individuals were abducted, casting an harsh attention on Nigeria’s deteriorating law and order crisis.

The nation confronts a protracted jihadist insurgency in the north-east, while criminal groups conduct abductions and raid villages in the northwestern region, and disputes between farmers and herders concerning dwindling farmland occur in the central belt.

Furthermore, militant factions connected to separatist movements also operate in the nation's volatile southeastern region.

Historical Precedent

Among the earliest mass kidnappings that garnered international attention was in 2014, when almost 300 female students were taken from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

A decade later, the country's kidnap-for-ransom crisis has “evolved into a structured, profit-seeking business” that collected approximately a significant sum between a recent twelve-month period, stated in a study by a Lagos-based research firm.