The spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu confirmed on Sunday that the remaining 130 Nigerian schoolchildren who were kidnapped from a Catholic school in Niger state in November have been released. This marks the resolution of one of the country’s largest mass abductions in recent memory.
In a social media post on platform X, Bayo Onanuga announced that the 130 abducted schoolchildren have regained their freedom and are scheduled to return to Minna on Monday to reunite with their families for the Christmas festivities. The successful release was attributed to a military-intelligence operation.
These students were part of a group of more than 300 pupils and 12 staff taken by gunmen from St Mary’s Catholic boarding school in Papiri village on November 21. It was reported earlier by the Christian Association of Nigeria that 50 children had escaped initially, with the government later confirming the rescue of 100 others on December 8.
According to Onanuga, the total number of students who have been freed now stands at 230. The incident sparked widespread concern over the deteriorating security situation in northern Nigeria, where criminal gangs often target schools for ransom. The prevalence of school abductions escalated following the abduction of 276 girls by Boko Haram militants in Chibok in 2014.