The release of the remaining 130 Nigerian schoolchildren who were kidnapped in November from a Catholic school in Niger state has been confirmed by President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson on Sunday. This incident marked one of the largest mass abductions in recent years in the country.
According to Bayo Onanuga, the schoolchildren abducted by terrorists have now been freed and are scheduled to return to Minna on Monday to be reunited with their families for the Christmas celebrations. The successful release of the students was a result of a military-intelligence operation.
These students were part of a group of over 300 pupils and 12 staff members taken by gunmen from St Mary’s Catholic boarding school in the village of Papiri on November 21. Initially, 50 children had managed to escape, as reported by the Christian Association of Nigeria, while the government of Nigeria had earlier announced the rescue of 100 abducted individuals on December 8.
Onanuga mentioned that the total number of students who have been freed now stands at 230. This incident sparked widespread concern about the deteriorating security situation in northern Nigeria, where armed groups frequently target schools for ransom. The trend of school kidnappings escalated following the abduction of 276 girls from Chibok by Boko Haram militants in 2014.
