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Officials in Nigeria have ensured the liberation of one hundred kidnapped schoolchildren captured by armed men from a religious school the previous month, according to a United Nations official and regional news outlets on Sunday. Nevertheless, the fate of an additional 165 hostages presumed to still be held captive remained uncertain.

Background

In November, 315 people were abducted from a co-educational boarding school in central a Nigerian state, as the country buckled under a surge of group seizures similar to the notorious 2014 jihadist group abduction of female students in Chibok.

Some fifty managed to flee in the immediate aftermath, resulting in 265 thought to be still held.

Freedom for Some

The one hundred children are set to be released to Niger state officials this Monday, stated by the UN official.

“They are scheduled to be released to the government on Monday,” the source informed AFP.

Local media also reported that the liberation of the hostages had been obtained, but did not provide details on if it was achieved via talks or a security operation, and no details on the fate of the remaining students and staff.

The liberation of the youngsters was confirmed to AFP by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Response

“For a long time we were anxiously awaiting for their return, should this be accurate then it is a cheering event,” said a spokesman, speaking for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which manages the school.

“Yet, we are without official confirmation and have not received proper notification by the federal government.”

Wider Crisis

Though hostage-taking for cash are common in the country as a way for illegal actors to make quick cash, in a series of mass abductions in last month, many people were abducted, casting an uncomfortable spotlight on Nigeria’s deteriorating law and order crisis.

The nation faces a protracted Islamist militant uprising in the north-east, while marauding gangs carry out abductions and raid communities in the northwestern region, and clashes between agricultural and pastoral communities concerning scarce resources occur in the country’s centre.

On a smaller scale, armed groups linked to separatist movements also are active in the country’s restive southeastern region.

A Dark Legacy

Among the earliest large-scale abductions that garnered worldwide outrage was in 2014, when nearly three hundred schoolgirls were taken from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by insurgents.

Now, Nigeria’s kidnap-for-ransom issue has “consolidated into a systematic, profit-seeking enterprise” that generated approximately a significant sum between last year, according to a recent report by a Nigerian consultancy.