Liberation Secured for 100 Taken Nigerian Pupils, however Many Remain Captive
The country's government have ensured the liberation of a hundred seized pupils captured by armed men from a religious school the previous month, according to a source within the UN and regional news outlets on Sunday. However, the situation of another one hundred and sixty-five hostages believed to still be in captivity stayed uncertain.
Background
During November, 315 students and staff were abducted from a mixed boarding school in north-central a Nigerian state, as the nation buckled under a wave of large-scale kidnappings reminiscent of the infamous 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of schoolgirls in a town in north-east Nigeria.
Some 50 got away in the immediate aftermath, resulting in two hundred and sixty-five believed to be still held.
Freedom for Some
The a hundred students are scheduled to be released to state authorities this Monday, as per the source.
“They will be handed over to state authorities on Monday,” the individual stated to a news agency.
News outlets also confirmed that the freeing of the students had been secured, but did not provide specifics on whether it was the result of negotiation or military force, nor on the whereabouts of the still-missing hostages.
The release of the 100 children was verified to AFP by an official representative an official.
Statements
“For a long time we were hoping and praying for their safe arrival, should this be accurate then it is wonderful development,” said a representative, representing the local diocese of the religious authority which runs the school.
“Nevertheless, we are without official confirmation and have not been duly notified by the government.”
Broader Context
Though hostage-taking for cash are widespread in the country as a method for illegal actors to fund their activities, in a spate of mass abductions in last month, scores of individuals were abducted, placing an uncomfortable attention on the country's deteriorating law and order crisis.
The country faces a protracted jihadist insurgency in the north-east, while armed bandit gangs perpetrate abductions and loot communities in the north-west, and conflicts between farmers and herders regarding dwindling land and resources continue in the middle belt.
Additionally, militant factions associated with secessionist agendas also haunt the country’s unsettled southeastern region.
The Chibok Shadow
One of the earliest large-scale abductions that garnered worldwide outrage was in 2014, when about three hundred girls were abducted from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by the militant group.
Ten years on, the country's kidnap-for-ransom problem has “become a structured, revenue-generating industry” that generated approximately $$1.66m (£1.24m) between a recent twelve-month period, stated in a recent report by a Lagos-based research firm.