‘130 schoolkids and staff abducted in Nigeria last month have been released’

Abuja: Some 130 schoolchildren and staff abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school last month by gunmen have been released, police said Sunday.

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 Nov 21.

Fifty escaped in the hours that followed, and 100 schoolchildren were freed earlier this month. Niger State police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement that “the remaining batch of the abducted students” has now been released.

“A total number of 130 victims, including the staff, have been released,” Abiodun said. When asked

about the 35 unaccounted-for schoolchildren and missing teachers, 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” have been released.

“The freedom of the schoolchildren followed a military intelligence-driven operation,” Onanuga said.

Sunday Dare, another spokesperson for Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, also said 130 schoolchildren were released and that none are left in captivity,

in a post on X.