Overview
- Presidential spokesman Sunday Dare confirmed that 100 students taken from St. Mary’s School on November 21 have been freed, with a UN source saying they arrived in Abuja and will be handed to Niger state authorities on Monday.
- Local and international reports differ on the original toll, with CAN citing 303 children plus 12 teachers abducted and other accounts putting the total at 315 including staff, while about 50 students escaped shortly after the attack.
- Roughly 165 students and staff are still believed to be in captivity, and local church officials and Niger state authorities said they had not yet received formal notification about the release.
- Media reports say it remains unclear whether military action or negotiations led to the handover, and there has been no claim of responsibility from any group.
- The mass abduction followed a November spike in kidnappings that included 25 girls taken in Kebbi, drew renewed pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump over alleged anti‑Christian violence, and prompted pushback from Nigerian officials who reject a religious framing and warn such rhetoric could embolden kidnappers.