Nigeria frees 100 abducted schoolchildren, vows to rescue the rest

Nigeria has secured the release of about 100 children kidnapped from a Catholic boarding school last month, with officials promising that more than 150 still in captivity will also be brought home. The freed students arrived Monday in Niger State’s capital Minna in white buses escorted by heavy security vehicles. Photographs showed children between ages 10 and 17 wearing football jerseys and slippers, some smiling as officials embraced them.

They are part of 303 students taken along with 12 teachers from St Mary’s Catholic School in the Papri community on November 21. Around 50 managed to escape shortly after the abduction.

Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago said the children rescued Monday will be examined by medical teams before reuniting with families in Papiri.

“To those who have been praying, please continue to pray,” he told officials. “We hope to recover the remaining students who are still in captivity.”

President Bola Tinubu praised security forces “for their steadfast work” but shared no details of the operation, including whether a ransom was involved.

“My directive to our security forces remains that all the students and other abducted Nigerians across the country must be rescued and brought back home safely. We must account for all the victims,” he said.

Numbers remain murky. Tinubu’s spokesman said 115 students and all 12 teachers are still held. News agencies say 165 may remain captive. UNICEF official Theresa Pamma said the freed children will need psychological support after two weeks in the forest.

Parents in Papiri learned about the rescue from media reports rather than government outreach, adding to the anxiety. Many still do not know if their children are among those freed.

Authorities have not identified the kidnappers, though locals blame armed criminal gangs that plague Nigeria’s northern regions with mass abductions and ransom kidnappings.