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The country's government have secured the release of a hundred seized pupils captured by gunmen from a educational institution last month, per reports from a United Nations official and regional news outlets on Sunday. Nevertheless, the whereabouts of a further one hundred and sixty-five individuals believed to continue being under the control of kidnappers stayed unclear.

The Incident

During November, three hundred and fifteen students and staff were abducted from a co-educational residential school in central Niger state, as the nation buckled under a surge of large-scale kidnappings echoing the notorious 2014 Boko Haram abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok.

Some fifty escaped in the immediate aftermath, which left 265 presumed under kidnappers' control.

The Release

The one hundred youngsters are due to be released to Niger state officials this Monday, according to the UN official.

“They will be released to Niger state government on Monday,” the source informed a news agency.

Regional reports also reported that the liberation of the hostages had been secured, though they lacked details on if it was achieved via negotiation or military force, nor on the fate of the remaining individuals.

The release of the students was verified to the press by a government spokesperson Sunday Dare.

Response

“For a long time we were hoping and praying for their return, should this be accurate then it is positive development,” said Daniel Atori, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the religious authority which manages the institution.

“Yet, we are not formally informed and have not received proper notification by the government.”

Broader Context

While kidnappings for ransom are prevalent in the nation as a method for gangs and militants to fund their activities, in a series of large-scale kidnappings in last month, hundreds were abducted, placing an critical attention on the country's serious law and order crisis.

The country confronts a protracted jihadist insurgency in the northeastern region, while armed bandit gangs carry out kidnappings and loot villages in the north-west, and conflicts between farmers and herders regarding diminishing farmland continue in the central belt.

Furthermore, armed groups linked to secessionist agendas also haunt the country’s volatile south-east.

Historical Precedent

One of the earliest mass kidnappings that drew international attention was in 2014, when nearly 300 girls were snatched from their boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok by the militant group.

Ten years on, Nigeria’s hostage-taking crisis has “evolved into a structured, revenue-generating industry” that generated about $$1.66m (£1.24m) between last year, according to a study by a Nigerian consultancy.