🔗 Share this article Freedom Obtained for 100 Taken Nigerian Students, but Numerous Remain in Captivity The country's government have secured the release of a hundred kidnapped students seized by gunmen from a educational institution the previous month, as stated by a UN source and Nigerian press this past Sunday. Nevertheless, the whereabouts of an additional one hundred and sixty-five hostages thought to still be under the control of kidnappers was uncertain. The Incident Last month, three hundred and fifteen individuals were abducted from a mixed boarding school in north-central a Nigerian state, as the country faced a series of large-scale kidnappings echoing the infamous 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok. Around fifty managed to flee soon after, resulting in 265 presumed under kidnappers' control. The Release The a hundred students are due to be handed over to local government officials this Monday, according to the UN official. “They will be handed over to Niger state government tomorrow,” the source informed AFP. Regional reports also reported that the release of the hostages had been achieved, but did not provide details on whether it was the result of dialogue or military force, or about the fate of the remaining hostages. The liberation of the youngsters was announced to the press by presidential spokesman Sunday Dare. Statements “For a long time we were hoping and praying for their safe arrival, should this be accurate then it is positive event,” said a spokesman, spokesman for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which operates the institution. “However, we are without official confirmation and have not been duly notified by the government.” Security Situation While abductions for money are widespread in the country as a method for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a wave of large-scale kidnappings in November, hundreds were taken, putting an uncomfortable attention on Nigeria’s already grim security situation. The nation faces a protracted jihadist insurgency in the northeastern region, while marauding gangs conduct kidnappings and loot villages in the northwestern region, and disputes between farmers and herders regarding scarce resources occur in the central belt. Additionally, armed groups associated with separatist movements also haunt the nation's volatile south-east. A Dark Legacy Among the most prominent large-scale abductions that attracted international attention was in 2014, when almost three hundred girls were taken from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by insurgents. A decade later, Nigeria’s hostage-taking issue has “become a systematic, revenue-generating industry” that collected around $1.66 million dollars (£1.24m) between July 2024 and June 2025, as per a study by a Lagos-based research firm.