Children and staff abducted from Nigerian school released
The released schoolchildren will arrive in Minna, the Niger state capital, on Monday. (X: Bayo Onanuga)
In short:
More than 100 children and staff abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school last month have been released.
303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted last month, but fifty escaped hours after and 100 were freed earlier this month.
What's next?
A presidential spokesperson said the released schoolchildren would arrive in Minna, the Niger state capital, on Monday and rejoin their parents for Christmas.
One hundred and thirty children and staff abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school last month have been released, according to police.
Gunmen seized at least 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers in Nigeria's north-central Niger state when they attacked St Mary's Catholic School in the Papiri community on November 21.
Fifty escaped in the hours that followed and 100 schoolchildren were freed earlier this month.
The parents of the abducted children gathered at St Mary's Catholic School on November 28. (AP: Supplied)
Niger State police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement on Sunday "the remaining batch of the abducted students" had now been released.
"A total number of 130 victims including the staff have been released," Mr Abiodun said.
One of dormitories at St Mary's Catholic School. (AP: Christian Association of Nigeria)
When asked about the 35 unaccounted-for schoolchildren and missing teachers, Mr Abiodun told The Associated Press: "Further details will be communicated."
Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a post on X that the "remaining 130 schoolchildren abducted" had been released.
He said those children would arrive in Minna, the Niger state capital, on Monday and rejoin their parents for Christmas.
"The freedom of the schoolchildren followed a military-intelligence-driven operation," Mr Onanuga said.
Sunday Dare, another spokesperson for Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, also said 130 schoolchildren were released and that none were left in captivity.
No group claimed responsibility for the November 21 abduction, but locals blamed armed gangs that target schools in kidnappings for ransoms across Nigeria's conflict-battered north.
The Niger state attack was among a spate of recent mass abductions in Nigeria, and happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighbouring Kebbi state's Maga town.
A church in southern Kwara state was also attacked at about the same time and the 38 worshippers abducted in that attack last month were freed.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has been under pressure at home and from US President Donald Trump, who has alleged that Christians are being targeted during Nigeria's security crisis.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu has faced scrutiny over the killing of Christians in Nigeria. (AP: Olamikan Gbemiga)
Nigerian authorities usually do not say much about rescue efforts, and arrests in such cases are rare.
Analysts believe that is because ransoms are usually paid.
However, officials do not admit to paying ransoms.
AP