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Nigerian authorities have ensured the liberation of a hundred seized pupils taken by armed men from a religious school the previous month, per reports from a source within the UN and local media this past Sunday. Nevertheless, the fate of a further one hundred and sixty-five students and staff presumed to remain under the control of kidnappers stayed uncertain.

Context

Last month, 315 students and staff were abducted from a mixed boarding school in central a Nigerian state, as the nation was gripped by a surge of large-scale kidnappings echoing the notorious 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of female students in Chibok.

Some 50 got away soon after, resulting in 265 thought to be still held.

The Release

The one hundred youngsters are scheduled to be released to state authorities this Monday, as per the UN official.

“They are scheduled to be released to state authorities tomorrow,” the source stated to a news agency.

Regional reports also confirmed that the release of 100 children had been obtained, without offering details on whether it was done through negotiation or military force, and no details on the fate of the remaining hostages.

The freeing of the students was announced to the press by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Statements

“We have been anxiously awaiting for their return, if it is true then it is wonderful event,” said a representative, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese which runs the school.

“However, we are without official confirmation and have not received proper notification by the national authorities.”

Wider Crisis

Although abductions for money are prevalent in the nation as a means for gangs and militants to generate revenue, in a wave of mass abductions in November, scores of individuals were taken, putting an harsh focus on the country's already grim state of safety.

The country is grappling with a long-running Islamist militant uprising in the north-east, while criminal groups perpetrate kidnappings and loot villages in the northwestern region, and conflicts between farmers and herders concerning diminishing farmland continue in the middle belt.

Additionally, armed groups connected to separatist movements also operate in the nation's volatile south-east.

The Chibok Shadow

One of the most prominent mass kidnappings that attracted global concern was in 2014, when almost three hundred girls were abducted from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

Now, the country's kidnap-for-ransom issue has “consolidated into a systematic, revenue-generating business” that raised about $1.66 million dollars (£1.24m) between a recent twelve-month period, according to a study by a Lagos-based research firm.