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Nigerian authorities have obtained the freedom of one hundred kidnapped schoolchildren seized by attackers from a Catholic school in November, per reports from a UN source and local media this past Sunday. However, the whereabouts of a further 165 individuals believed to still be held captive remained unknown.

The Incident

During November, 315 people were taken from St Mary’s co-educational residential school in central a Nigerian state, as the country faced a series of group seizures echoing the notorious 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of schoolgirls in a town in north-east Nigeria.

Some 50 managed to flee soon after, which left two hundred and sixty-five thought to be in captivity.

The Handover

The a hundred youngsters are scheduled to be handed over to state authorities on Monday, stated by the source.

“They are scheduled to be handed over to the government tomorrow,” the individual stated to AFP.

Local media also reported that the liberation of the hostages had been obtained, without offering specifics on whether it was achieved via negotiation or military force, and no details on the fate of the other hostages.

The release of the students was confirmed to AFP by presidential spokesman Sunday Dare.

Reaction

“We have been anxiously awaiting for their release, should this be accurate then it is wonderful event,” said a spokesman, spokesman for the local diocese of the religious authority which operates the institution.

“Yet, we are not formally informed and have not been duly notified by the national authorities.”

Wider Crisis

Although hostage-taking for cash are prevalent in the country as a means for criminals and armed groups to make quick cash, in a series of mass abductions in November, scores of individuals were seized, casting an harsh spotlight on the country's already grim law and order crisis.

The nation faces a long-running Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while armed bandit gangs carry out kidnappings and loot communities in the northwestern region, and conflicts between agricultural and pastoral communities over dwindling land and resources continue in the middle belt.

Furthermore, armed groups associated with secessionist agendas also are active in the country’s volatile southeastern region.

A Dark Legacy

A earliest mass kidnappings that drew international attention was in 2014, when about 300 female students were taken from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

Now, the country's hostage-taking issue has “consolidated into a organized, profit-seeking enterprise” that collected around $$1.66m (£1.24m) between last year, according to a analysis by a Nigerian consultancy.