One hundred abducted school students rescued in Nigeria
The Chronify
Authorities in Nigeria have rescued 100 children from among more than a hundred students abducted last month from a Catholic school in the country’s northern region, according to government sources and local media.
A United Nations source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the rescued children have arrived in the capital, Abuja, and will be handed over to the authorities of Niger State on Monday. “They will be transferred to the Niger State government tomorrow,” the source said.
Nigeria’s newspaper The Guardian reported that the rescued children are currently undergoing medical examinations and will be reunited with their families after official briefings. Presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare also confirmed to AFP that 100 children have been freed.
On November 21, armed attackers abducted 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s School in the Agwara district of Niger State. Nigeria’s Christian association CAN said the abducted students included both boys and girls aged between 10 and 18.
A few days after the abduction, 50 students managed to escape and return home. Even after Sunday’s rescue of 100 children, 153 students and 12 teachers are still believed to be in captivity.
Days earlier, 25 female students were also abducted from a government girls’ secondary school in Kebbi State, about 170 kilometers from the Agwara incident site.
A spokesperson of the Kontagora Diocese, Daniel Atori, said, “We have been praying for their return. If this is true, it is certainly a great relief.” However, he added that they have not yet received any official confirmation from the federal government.
Local residents are calling the recent abductions the largest since the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, when more than 270 students were abducted. Since 2014, over 1,400 students have been kidnapped across Nigeria in various incidents.
Following the latest attacks, former US President Donald Trump claimed that Christians in Nigeria are facing “genocide.” However, Nigerian government officials and Christian groups have rejected the claim, saying that people of all religions are being affected by the violence.
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry official Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa told Al Jazeera last month that while violence is ongoing, “it is not directed only at Christians. Muslims and traditional worshippers have also been killed. Christians are not the majority of victims in terms of numbers.”
Trump has accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians and has threatened military intervention, along with a possible reduction in US aid.
Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million, is deeply divided along religious lines Muslims dominate the north, while Christians form the majority in the south. According to the Pew Research Center, about 56 percent of Nigerians are Muslim and 43 percent are Christian. Armed violence has plagued the north-eastern region for over 15 years, primarily affecting Muslim-majority areas.
