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The country's government have ensured the liberation of a hundred kidnapped students captured by attackers from a educational institution in November, according to a UN source and Nigerian press on Sunday. Yet, the situation of another 165 hostages thought to continue being held captive remained uncertain.

The Incident

In November, three hundred and fifteen people were kidnapped from a co-educational boarding school in central a Nigerian state, as the country was gripped by a series of large-scale kidnappings echoing the notorious 2014 jihadist group kidnapping of female students in Chibok.

Some 50 managed to flee shortly afterward, leaving 265 presumed under kidnappers' control.

Freedom for Some

The one hundred children are set to be transferred to local government officials on Monday, stated by the United Nations source.

“They are going to be released to the government tomorrow,” the source stated to a news agency.

News outlets also stated that the freeing of the hostages had been achieved, but did not provide information on if it was achieved via negotiation or military force, nor on the whereabouts of the other individuals.

The liberation of the 100 children was announced to AFP by presidential spokesman an official.

Response

“We've been praying and waiting for their return, should this be accurate then it is a cheering development,” said a representative, representing Bishop Bulus Yohanna of the Kontagora diocese which runs the school.

“However, we are not officially aware and have not been duly notified by the national authorities.”

Wider Crisis

While kidnappings for ransom are common in the country as a way for gangs and militants to generate revenue, in a spate of mass abductions in last month, many people were seized, putting an critical attention on Nigeria’s deteriorating state of safety.

The nation is grappling with a long-running Islamist militant uprising in the northeastern region, while criminal groups perpetrate abductions and loot communities in the north-west, and clashes between agricultural and pastoral communities over diminishing resources persist in the middle belt.

On a smaller scale, militant factions connected to secessionist agendas also operate in the country’s unsettled southeastern region.

A Dark Legacy

A most prominent large-scale abductions that drew worldwide outrage was in 2014, when almost 300 female students were abducted from their school in the northeastern town of Chibok by insurgents.

A decade later, the country's hostage-taking problem has “consolidated into a structured, revenue-generating enterprise” that collected about a significant sum between last year, according to a study by a Lagos-based consultancy.