Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Last Papiri School Hostages Return Home as Families Reunite in Nigeria

Officials report all abductees are free, with key details of the releases still undisclosed.

Overview

  • The final group of 130 students and teachers, released on Sunday, was brought back to Papiri late Wednesday night for reunions with relatives.
  • Authorities revised the total number abducted in the Nov. 21 raid to 230 after initially reporting 303 students and 12 teachers, and they say everyone has now been freed.
  • Most of the children taken from St. Mary's Catholic School were ages 10 to 17, and a student recounted that gunmen threatened to shoot captives during the attack.
  • A presidential aide credited a military-intelligence operation for the releases, though officials have provided no details on how the captives were secured.
  • The Papiri abductions highlight a broader pattern of ransom-driven school kidnappings in Nigeria that has triggered heightened security measures.