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Officials in Nigeria have ensured the liberation of 100 kidnapped students taken by attackers from a religious school the previous month, according to a United Nations official and Nigerian press this past Sunday. Nevertheless, the situation of a further 165 hostages thought to continue being under the control of kidnappers stayed unclear.

The Incident

In November, 315 individuals were taken from a co-educational boarding school in central a Nigerian state, as the country buckled under a wave of large-scale kidnappings similar to the notorious 2014 jihadist group abduction of female students in Chibok.

Around fifty managed to flee in the immediate aftermath, which left two hundred and sixty-five presumed under kidnappers' control.

Freedom for Some

The 100 children are scheduled to be released to Niger state officials on Monday, as per the United Nations source.

“They are going to be handed over to the government on Monday,” the official told a news agency.

Regional reports also reported that the freeing of the students had been achieved, without offering details on whether it was achieved via talks or a security operation, nor on the whereabouts of the other individuals.

The release of the 100 children was verified to the press by an official representative Sunday Dare.

Statements

“For a long time we were praying and waiting for their release, if it is true then it is a cheering news,” said Daniel Atori, representing the local diocese of the Kontagora diocese which operates the school.

“However, we are not officially aware and have lacked official communication by the federal government.”

Security Situation

Though hostage-taking for cash are widespread in the country as a means for gangs and militants to fund their activities, in a series of large-scale kidnappings in last month, many people were taken, casting an critical spotlight on the country's already grim law and order crisis.

The country faces a long-running jihadist insurgency in the north-east, while armed bandit gangs carry out kidnappings and plunder villages in the northwestern region, and clashes between agricultural and pastoral communities concerning dwindling resources persist in the central belt.

Furthermore, armed groups linked to separatist movements also operate in the nation's volatile southeastern region.

A Dark Legacy

A first large-scale abductions that garnered global concern was in 2014, when nearly 300 female students were taken from their school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.

Now, the country's hostage-taking problem has “consolidated into a systematic, revenue-generating industry” that generated around $$1.66m (£1.24m) between a recent twelve-month period, according to a analysis by a Nigerian consultancy.