Freedom Obtained for One Hundred Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolchildren, but Many Are Still Held
Officials in Nigeria have obtained the freedom of 100 abducted schoolchildren captured by gunmen from a Catholic school last month, as stated by a United Nations official and Nigerian press on Sunday. However, the situation of an additional one hundred and sixty-five individuals presumed to still be under the control of kidnappers stayed unknown.
Background
In November, 315 individuals were taken from a co-educational residential school in north-central a Nigerian state, as the nation buckled under a series of mass abductions echoing the infamous 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok.
Around 50 got away soon after, leaving two hundred and sixty-five presumed in captivity.
The Handover
The a hundred children are due to be transferred to state authorities this Monday, as per the United Nations source.
“They are scheduled to be released to the government tomorrow,” the official informed AFP.
News outlets also confirmed that the release of 100 children had been secured, though they lacked details on whether it was done through talks or armed intervention, nor on the fate of the other individuals.
The release of the 100 children was verified to AFP by an official representative an official.
Statements
“For a long time we were anxiously awaiting for their return, should this be accurate then it is wonderful development,” said a spokesman, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which manages the school.
“Yet, we are without official confirmation and have not received proper notification by the federal government.”
Security Situation
Although hostage-taking for cash are common in the nation as a way for gangs and militants to fund their activities, in a wave of mass abductions in last month, many people were seized, placing an uncomfortable spotlight on the country's already grim security situation.
The country confronts a protracted Islamist militant uprising in the north-east, while marauding gangs carry out kidnappings and plunder communities in the north-west, and clashes between agricultural and pastoral communities concerning scarce land and resources continue in the country’s centre.
On a smaller scale, militant factions associated with separatist movements also operate in the country’s unsettled south-east.
A Dark Legacy
One of the most prominent large-scale abductions that attracted international attention was in 2014, when almost 300 female students were abducted from their school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.
A decade later, Nigeria’s hostage-taking crisis has “evolved into a systematic, profit-seeking industry” that collected approximately $$1.66m (£1.24m) between a recent twelve-month period, as per a recent report by a Lagos-based research firm.
