Release Achieved for One Hundred Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolchildren, but Many Are Still Held
The country's government have ensured the liberation of a hundred seized students taken by attackers from a educational institution last month, per reports from a United Nations official and local media this past Sunday. However, the situation of a further one hundred and sixty-five hostages believed to still be in captivity remained unknown.
Context
Last month, three hundred and fifteen people were taken from St Mary’s mixed residential school in north-central a Nigerian state, as the nation buckled under a series of large-scale kidnappings reminiscent of the well-known 2014 jihadist group abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok.
Some 50 managed to flee soon after, leaving two hundred and sixty-five thought to be in captivity.
Freedom for Some
The 100 students are set to be handed over to state authorities this Monday, stated by the source.
“They are going to be transferred to state authorities tomorrow,” the official told AFP.
Regional reports also reported that the freeing of the students had been obtained, but did not provide details on if it was the result of dialogue or military force, and no details on the situation of the still-missing hostages.
The freeing of the students was verified to AFP by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.
Statements
“We've been praying and waiting for their safe arrival, if it is true then it is wonderful news,” said Daniel Atori, speaking for the local diocese of the religious authority which runs the institution.
“Nevertheless, we are not officially aware and have lacked official communication by the national authorities.”
Security Situation
Although kidnappings for ransom are widespread in the nation as a means for gangs and militants to generate revenue, in a series of large-scale kidnappings in November, scores of individuals were taken, placing an uncomfortable focus on Nigeria’s serious law and order crisis.
The nation is grappling with a long-running Islamist militant uprising in the north-east, while marauding gangs perpetrate kidnappings and raid communities in the north-west, and disputes between agricultural and pastoral communities concerning scarce land and resources occur in the middle belt.
Additionally, militant factions associated with separatist movements also operate in the nation's unsettled southeastern region.
A Dark Legacy
Among the first mass kidnappings that attracted global concern was in 2014, when about three hundred schoolgirls were abducted from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by insurgents.
Ten years on, the country's hostage-taking crisis has “evolved into a organized, revenue-generating business” that collected about $$1.66m (£1.24m) between a recent twelve-month period, stated in a analysis by a Lagos-based research firm.
