Nigeria: Abducted schoolchildren reunite with families as over 150 remain captive

Schoolchildren who were abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school last month were finally reunited with their parents overnight into Wednesday following their release.

Gunmen seized 303 students and 12 of their teachers during an attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in the Papiri community on 21 November.

Fifty children escaped in the hours that followed. The families of the remaining captives had to endure weeks of anxiety and frustration, until a hundred more children were released over the weekend. Many parents expressed their relief.

“It has not been easy for me... But today, in fact, I have a little bit of joy, especially because there is still one abducted. But I am now happy with this one that I have gotten," said one parent, Luka Illaya, as his son hugged him tightly.

Most of the freed children — between the ages of 10 and 17, according to the school — arrived wearing football jerseys, robes, and slippers.

Officials said they had been in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, since the news of their release broke on Sunday night.

"We thank all the security agencies that helped in the rescuing of our children. We are pleading that God should give them more strength to be able to rescue the remaining children," said St. Mary's School Principal Felicia Gyang.

Additional details surrounding the children's release were not made public, and the government has not said if any ransom was paid.

At least 150 remain captive, together with the teachers.

"We know that the God that made it possible for the release of our children will also make it possible for the rest of the children," said one parent, Sunday Mojungore.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, but locals blamed armed gangs that target schools and travelers in kidnappings for ransoms in northern Nigeria.

The attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state was among a spate of recent mass abductions in Nigeria.

It happened just four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighbouring Kebbi state.

A church in the southern Kwara state was also attacked around the same time. The 38 worshipers abducted in that attack last month have also been freed.

Under pressure at home and from United States President Donald Trump — who has alleged that Christians are being targeted in Nigeria’s security crisis— Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has promised he will not relent until all hostages are freed.