Authorities in Nigeria said on Monday that all the remaining abducted students from a Catholic boarding school have been released.
On Sunday, the remaining 130 children and their teachers were freed by the bandits following their abduction in November.
Nigerian president Bola Tinubu, in a post on X, said, "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."
He said bandits have released around 230 students in total. On November 21, armed bandits entered the school compound and abducted 315 children and several of their teachers from St Mary’s Catholic boarding school in Papiri village.
However, it was not immediately clear which group abducted the children and how Nigerian authorities managed to secure the release of the students.
Previously, bandits had released 100 students of the same school on December 8.
Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that some 50 children had managed to escape at the time of the attack.
According to UN sources, all of the abducted children had been released by the kidnappers on Sunday.
Nigeria continues to remain in the grip of these armed groups known as bandits, who have committed all sorts of crimes, including extortion, kidnappings, killings, and sexual violence against unarmed civilians. Amid a surge in recent kidnappings, Nigerian Defence Minister BadruAbubakar resigned from the post earlier this month.
Follow us
