In a chilling echo of past horrors, Nigerian authorities confirmed that 100 kidnapped children have been freed after a brazen attack on a Catholic school in Niger State.

In the early hours of November 21, over 300 students and staff — mostly children — were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School by armed militants, with just a fraction returned nearly three weeks later, as The Christian Post reports.

The attackers stormed the Papiri-based school before sunrise, herding terrified students and staff at gunpoint and dragging them into the dense forests of central Nigeria. Most of the abductees were under 15 years old, with initial estimates suggesting at least 265 hostages vanished into the bush after 50 managed to escape on foot shortly after the attack.

Government Responds With Limited Results

The release of 100 schoolchildren was confirmed on December 7 by Sunday Dare, the official spokesperson for Nigeria’s president. The children were airlifted to the capital, Abuja, where plans are in place to hand them over to Niger State officials.

While the freed children are now out of immediate danger, the government has remained tight-lipped about the method of their release. Whether secured through negotiation, ransom, or force remains undisclosed — a silence that raises more questions than it answers in a country grappling with worsening security.

What is known: more than 160 individuals, mostly minors, are still unaccounted for. And although a United Nations official confirmed that arrangements were in progress to transfer the freed children to state custody, local church authorities said they hadn’t received formal word from Abuja.

Emotional Toll Hits Families Hard

The emotional weight is crushing. Just three days after the November mass abduction, a father of three kidnapped children died from a suspected heart attack, his demise tied directly to the stress of his children’s uncertain fate.

Church representatives echoed the anguish of families still waiting for answers. “We have been praying and waiting for their return… if it is true then it is a cheering news,” said Daniel Atori, spokesman for Bishop Bulus Yohanna of Kontagora Diocese, which oversees the school.

But cheering news is hard to come by in Nigeria these days, where November alone saw a wave of kidnappings including Muslim schoolgirls, churchgoers, and civilians — a grim cross-section of a country besieged by lawlessness.

Kidnap-For-Ransom Crisis Surges

Mass abductions like this are no longer rare incidents — they’re routine. According to data from SBM Intelligence, the kidnap-for-ransom industry pulled in over $1.6 million between July 2024 and June 2025. Groups of armed criminals act with near impunity, operating with military-grade firepower and far too little resistance.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did order a significant expansion of Nigeria’s security forces in response, calling for 20,000 new police hires on top of an already-approved 30,000 and the deployment of forest guards under the State Security apparatus.

But in a deeply troubling twist, some elected officials warned that militant group members were turning up on military and police rosters — exactly the sort of infiltration that breeds chaos from within.

Militant Violence Escalates Across Nigeria

Rights organizations have identified various culprits fueling this breakdown of order — jihadist networks, armed Fulani factions, and increasingly organized crime syndicates. One newly identified group, Lakurawa, is said to have ties to al-Qaeda affiliates and access to advanced weaponry.

The pattern of violence isn’t just criminal — it’s indirectly religious, devastating Nigeria’s Christian population. According to the 2025 World Watch List, more than 3,100 Christians were killed for their faith in Nigeria last year, out of a global total of 4,476.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump squarely blamed the Nigerian government for failing to protect its Christian citizens, even warning of potential American military involvement if the persecution continued.

Government Denies Religious Targeting as Crisis Grows

Despite international criticism, Nigerian authorities firmly deny that the crisis reflects religious persecution. Instead, they attribute the violence to a mix of terror groups and criminality — a claim not widely accepted, especially in Christian communities.

As the dust settles from the latest school kidnapping, the obvious parallel looms: the 2014 Boko Haram raid in Chibok, where nearly 300 girls were taken, many of whom have never been found. The haunting repetition of history is impossible to ignore.

To prevent further tragedy, the U.S. has reportedly ramped up surveillance flights over northern Nigeria, where jihadist groups operate with impunity. Still, local sources fear militants may be holding captives as leverage against future airstrikes.