Liberation Achieved for 100 Taken Nigerian Students, but Numerous Are Still Held
The country's government have ensured the liberation of 100 seized pupils seized by attackers from a educational institution last month, according to a source within the UN and Nigerian press on Sunday. Yet, the fate of a further one hundred and sixty-five individuals presumed to continue being in captivity remained uncertain.
Background
During November, 315 individuals were kidnapped from St Mary’s mixed residential school in central a Nigerian state, as the nation faced a series of mass abductions similar to the infamous 2014 jihadist group abduction of female students in a town in north-east Nigeria.
Around fifty got away in the immediate aftermath, which left 265 believed to be under kidnappers' control.
The Handover
The a hundred youngsters are scheduled to be transferred to state authorities this Monday, according to the source.
“They will be transferred to state authorities on Monday,” the official stated to a news agency.
Regional reports also reported that the freeing of the hostages had been secured, without offering specifics on if it was achieved via negotiation or armed intervention, or about the situation of the other individuals.
The release of the youngsters was confirmed to AFP by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.
Statements
“We've been praying and waiting for their safe arrival, if this is confirmed then it is wonderful event,” said a representative, speaking for the local diocese of the religious authority which operates the institution.
“However, we are not formally informed and have lacked official communication by the federal government.”
Security Situation
Though kidnappings for ransom are common in the nation as a method for illegal actors to generate revenue, in a series of large-scale kidnappings in November, scores of individuals were abducted, casting an critical attention on the country's deteriorating security situation.
The nation is grappling with a years-long jihadist insurgency in the northeastern region, while criminal groups perpetrate abductions and loot villages in the north-west, and clashes between farmers and herders over scarce land and resources occur in the middle belt.
Additionally, armed groups associated with secessionist agendas also are active in the country’s volatile south-east.
A Dark Legacy
Among the earliest large-scale abductions that attracted worldwide outrage was in 2014, when nearly three hundred female students were snatched from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.
Ten years on, the country's hostage-taking crisis has “become a organized, profit-seeking business” that raised approximately a significant sum between last year, according to a study by a Nigerian consultancy.
