At least 153 students and 12 teachers kidnapped from a Catholic school last month are still being held by their abductors.
Nigerian authorities have successfully rescued 100 children who were among the hundreds taken from a Catholic school in northern Nigeria in November, according to officials and local media reports.
A United Nations source, who spoke to AFP, said the children were brought to Abuja and will be handed over to Niger State officials on Monday.
“They will be formally handed to the Niger State government tomorrow,” the source said.
The Guardian (Nigeria) reported on Sunday that the rescued students were undergoing medical examinations and would reunite with their families after debriefing sessions.
Presidential spokesman Sunday Dare also confirmed to AFP that 100 children were freed.
The mass abduction occurred on November 21, when armed men seized 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s School in the Papiri community of Agwara Local Government Area, Niger State.
The kidnapped students, both boys and girls, were between ages 10 and 18, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
In the days following the abduction, 50 students managed to escape and returned home. With the release of 100 more on Sunday, 153 students and 12 teachers remain in captivity.
Just days before the Niger State abduction, gunmen also kidnapped 25 schoolgirls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, about 170km away.
“We have been praying for their safe return. If the reports are true, it is encouraging news,” said Daniel Atori, spokesperson for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora Diocese, which oversees the school.
“However, we have not received formal notification from the federal government.”
Since 2014, more than 1,400 Nigerian students have been abducted in multiple school kidnappings across the country.
These latest attacks came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Christians in Nigeria were facing genocide—an assertion disputed by local authorities and Christian groups, who maintain that people from various religious backgrounds are caught in the wider violence.
Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Al Jazeera last month that ongoing attacks are not targeted at any single religious group.
“We recognize that killings have occurred, but they are not limited to Christians. Muslims have been killed. Traditional worshippers have been killed,” he said.
“The majority affected are not Christians.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened military action and the withdrawal of U.S. aid over what he describes as Nigeria’s failure to protect its Christian population.
Nigeria, a nation of more than 200 million people, is split between a mostly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south.
Pew Research Center estimates that Muslims make up 56% of the population, while Christians account for just over 43%.
Armed groups have waged a conflict concentrated in the Muslim-majority northeast for more than 15 years.
