Last group of freed Nigerian schoolchildren to be reunited with their families

By Ahmed Kingimi

MINNA, Nigeria, Dec 22 (Reuters) – A final group of 130 kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren freed by the government on Sunday are expected to be reunited with their families in the central Niger state on Monday, ending a month-long ordeal that drew global concern.

The children were among more than 300 pupils and 12 staff seized from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, a hamlet seven hours’ drive from the Niger capital Minna, on November 21 in one of the country’s worst school kidnappings in recent years. 

They are due to be taken to Minna later on Monday to meet their relatives in time for Christmas celebrations, President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson said.

One hundred students were released on December 8, while 50 pupils escaped in the immediate hours after they were kidnapped.

The abduction caused outrage over worsening insecurity in northern Nigeria, where armed gangs frequently target schools for ransom. School kidnappings surged after Boko Haram militants abducted 276 girls from Chibok in 2014.

Presidency spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a post on X on Sunday that the latest release followed “a military-intelligence-driven operation,” but did not provide details. 

It was unclear whether the children were freed through negotiations with their captors – or payments to them – or in a security raid. Details about the kidnapped staff were also not provided.

The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora thanked federal and state authorities, security agencies, and humanitarian partners for their role in securing the children’s freedom.

“We are profoundly grateful… for their efforts and interventions,” Rev. Fr. Jatau Luka Joseph said in a statement.

Mass kidnappings for ransom have become a grim feature of life in northern and central Nigeria, where armed gangs, known locally as bandits, exploit weak security and vast ungoverned rural terrain.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians. The Nigerian government says armed groups target both Muslims and Christians. It has repeatedly vowed to end the scourge, but attacks persist despite military operations and negotiations.

(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; additional by Tife Owolabi in Yenagoa; writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Nqobile Dludla; editing by Philippa Fletcher)