“The remaining 130 schoolchildren abducted by the terrorists have now been released. They are expected to reach Minna on Monday and join their parents for Christmas celebrations,” Bayo Onanuga, an aide to President Bola Tinubu, said in a post on X.
He said the total number of students freed is now 230.
What do we know about the attack on St. Mary’s Boarding School?
Gunmen abducted 315 students and staff from St. Mary’s Catholic Boarding School in Papiri village on November 21.
It is not yet clear which group carried out the kidnapping or how Nigerian authorities secured the release of the abducted people.
About 100 students from the school were released on 8 December.
The Christian Union of Nigeria said that about 50 children managed to escape during the attack.
AFP news agency quoted a UN source as saying on Sunday that it appeared all those captured had been released.
Nigeria kidnapping crisis
Nigeria has for years battled armed groups, known locally as “bandits”, who attack villages and kidnap people for ransom, especially in the country’s northwest.
The kidnapping crisis has deepened in Nigeria as well as in the West African country in recent months punch The newspaper reported in early December that some 490 people had been abducted over two weeks.
Defense Minister Badru Abubakar resigned on 2 December amid the kidnapping incidents.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s northeast has been engulfed by an Islamic insurgency, with militants also carrying out kidnappings.
The Boko Haram terrorist group abducted about 300 schoolgirls in 2014, some of whom are still missing.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico
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