🔗 Share this article Release Obtained for A Hundred Abducted Nigerian Schoolchildren, however Many Remain in Captivity The country's government have obtained the freedom of 100 kidnapped students taken by gunmen from a religious school last month, according to a source within the UN and local media this past Sunday. Yet, the whereabouts of another 165 hostages thought to continue being under the control of kidnappers stayed unclear. Background During November, three hundred and fifteen people were abducted from a co-educational boarding school in north-central Niger state, as the nation buckled under a surge of mass abductions reminiscent of the infamous 2014 Boko Haram abduction of schoolgirls in a town in north-east Nigeria. Some 50 escaped in the immediate aftermath, which left 265 believed to be under kidnappers' control. The Handover The a hundred children are due to be released to state authorities on Monday, as per the source. “They are scheduled to be handed over to Niger state government tomorrow,” the individual told a news agency. Local media also stated that the release of 100 children had been secured, without offering details on if it was the result of talks or a security operation, or about the situation of the other students and staff. The liberation of the youngsters was announced to the press by an official representative Sunday Dare. Statements “We've been anxiously awaiting for their release, should this be accurate then it is positive news,” said a representative, speaking for the local diocese of the Kontagora diocese which operates the school. “Nevertheless, we are not officially aware and have lacked official communication by the federal government.” Security Situation Though abductions for money are widespread in the nation as a means for gangs and militants to fund their activities, in a spate of large-scale kidnappings in last month, many people were taken, casting an harsh spotlight on the country's serious state of safety. The nation is grappling with a long-running Islamist militant uprising in the north-east, while armed bandit gangs perpetrate kidnappings and loot villages in the northwestern region, and clashes between agricultural and pastoral communities concerning diminishing resources continue in the country’s centre. Additionally, militant factions connected to secessionist agendas also haunt the country’s unsettled south-east. A Dark Legacy A first mass kidnappings that garnered worldwide outrage was in 2014, when about 300 girls were taken from their school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists. A decade later, Nigeria’s hostage-taking crisis has “consolidated into a systematic, profit-seeking enterprise” that collected around a significant sum between a recent twelve-month period, stated in a recent report by a Nigerian research firm.