Nigeria says 130 Catholic schoolchildren abducted by terrorists freed
Nigerian authorities say they have secured the release of 130 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic boarding school in the country’s central Niger state last month.
“The remaining 130 schoolchildren abducted by terrorists … have now been released. They are expected to arrive in Minna on Monday, and rejoin their parents for the Christmas celebration … The freedom of the schoolchildren followed a military-intelligence driven operation,” President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu’s aide Bayo Onanuga said in a post published on social media platform X on Sunday.
The abductions took place in late November, when gunmen stormed St Mary’s co-educational boarding school in the rural hamlet of Papiri, in north-central Niger state, seizing students and staff.
Since then, conflicting figures have emerged about how many people were taken and how many remained in captivity.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said 315 students and staff were abducted, with about 50 escaping shortly after the attack and the government securing the release of roughly 100 more on December 7.
In a statement issued at the time, President Tinubu said 115 people were still being held, a figure lower than the one suggested by CAN’s initial estimate.
A UN source later said the remaining schoolchildren would be transported to Minna, the Niger state capital, on Tuesday.
Authorities have not disclosed who carried out the kidnappings or whether any ransom was paid to secure the releases.
Nigeria has experienced a resurgence of mass abductions in recent months, reviving memories of the 2014 kidnapping of schoolgirls from Chibok by the militant group Boko Haram.
Kidnappings for ransom are a common tactic used by criminal gangs and armed groups, but the scale of recent attacks has intensified concerns over the country’s fragile security situation.
In November alone, attackers abducted two dozen Muslim schoolgirls, 38 church worshippers, and a bride with her bridesmaids. Male farm workers, women and children were also taken hostage in separate incidents.
The renewed violence comes as Nigeria faces heightened international scrutiny.
The United States has launched a diplomatic offensive after President Donald Trump alleged, without providing any evidence, that mass killings of Christians in the West African country amount to “genocide” and said Washington may launch military action in Nigeria. He claimed he has ordered the Department of War to prepare strikes over alleged anti-Christian violence.
The Nigerian government and independent analysts reject the claim, saying it echoes rhetoric long used by right-wing Christians in the United States and Europe.
100 abducted Nigerian students freed, over 160 remain missing
Armed men abduct over 200 students, 12 teachers in Nigeria
Trump threatens military strikes on Nigeria on pretext of protecting Christians
Two Palestine Action hunger strikers hospitalized amid rising health concerns
US weighs sanctions against Spanish ships over blocked arms shipment to Israel
Medicine shortages in Gaza reach alarming levels amid Israeli siege: Health ministry
Nigeria says 130 schoolchildren abducted by terrorists freed
Israel to ‘permanently’ arm 10,000 reserve forces after al-Aqsa Flood lessons: Report
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | No war for oil: Londoners protest US bullying Venezuela
VIDEO | French MP demands inquiry into arms sales to Israel
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
