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Officials in Nigeria have obtained the freedom of 100 abducted pupils taken by gunmen from a religious school in November, according to a United Nations official and Nigerian press on Sunday. However, the whereabouts of an additional one hundred and sixty-five hostages thought to still be held captive was unknown.

Context

In November, three hundred and fifteen individuals were abducted from a mixed boarding school in central a Nigerian state, as the country buckled under a surge of group seizures reminiscent of the well-known 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok.

Approximately 50 escaped soon after, leaving two hundred and sixty-five thought to be under kidnappers' control.

The Handover

The 100 students are scheduled to be transferred to local government officials on Monday, stated by the UN official.

“They are going to be transferred to the government on Monday,” the source told a news agency.

News outlets also confirmed that the release of the hostages had been secured, though they lacked specifics on if it was the result of dialogue or armed intervention, nor on the situation of the still-missing individuals.

The liberation of the students was verified to the press by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Statements

“We've been hoping and praying for their safe arrival, if it is true then it is a cheering development,” said a spokesman, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which manages the school.

“Nevertheless, we are not officially aware and have not been duly notified by the government.”

Broader Context

Although kidnappings for ransom are widespread in the country as a method for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a wave of mass abductions in November, hundreds were abducted, placing an uncomfortable focus on the country's already grim state of safety.

The country is grappling with a protracted Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while armed bandit gangs conduct abductions and raid communities in the north-west, and conflicts between farmers and herders concerning dwindling resources continue in the country’s centre.

On a smaller scale, militant factions linked to separatist movements also are active in the country’s restive south-east.

Historical Precedent

One of the first large-scale abductions that garnered global concern was in 2014, when about three hundred female students were taken from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

A decade later, Nigeria’s hostage-taking problem has “become a organized, revenue-generating business” that collected around $$1.66m (£1.24m) between last year, as per a recent report by a Nigerian research firm.