100 of 303 abducted Catholic schoolchildren in Nigeria’s Niger State released Dec 7; 153 students and 12 staff still held as trauma claims two parents.
Newsroom (10/12/2025 Gaudium Press )Human rights advocates and church leaders expressed cautious relief Tuesday after Nigerian authorities secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted last month from a Catholic boarding school in Niger State, though more than half of the original 303 victims remain in the hands of armed gunmen.
The children – part of a group of 239 nursery and primary pupils, 14 secondary students, and 12 staff members taken on November 21 from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri community, within the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora – were freed on Saturday, December 7, according to multiple sources close to the situation.
Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of Kontagora confirmed the development to the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), stating simply: “It is true. So far, 100 children have been released. We thank God for everything.”
Details surrounding the operation that led to their release remain undisclosed by Nigerian authorities.
In a statement emailed to ACI Africa on December 9, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the UK-based human rights organization, welcomed the partial liberation while urging immediate support for the survivors’ psychological recovery.
Scot Bower, CSW’s chief executive, extended solidarity to the freed children and their families, saying, “We wish these students and their families a swift and full recovery from this traumatic ordeal, and urge the Nigerian authorities to do all they can to assist with this.”
Bower further warned that “Nigerian citizens have been terrorised by multiple armed non-state actors for far too long and require urgent, effective protection.” He called on the government to “spare no effort” in securing the freedom of every remaining captive, including the 153 students and 12 staff members still missing from St. Mary’s.
The CSW statement also pressed federal authorities to confront Nigeria’s escalating security crisis head-on, including by seeking international assistance “wherever possible and whenever necessary.”
The trauma inflicted by the mass abduction has already claimed two adult lives. Anthony Musa, father of three of the young abductees, and a mother identified only as Esther died after suffering shock and grief in the weeks following the attack, according to reports from the diocese.
From Washington, U.S. Congressman Riley Moore, who recently visited Nigeria and introduced a House resolution on the persecution of Christians there, described Saturday’s release as “a positive demonstration of the government’s increasing response to the security situation.”
In a post on X, Moore said he had discussed “concrete steps and actions” with Nigerian stakeholders that, if fully implemented, “will enhance security across the country for all Nigerians, disrupt and destroy terrorist organisations in the North-East and stop the killing of Christians … particularly in the Middle Belt of the country.”
CSW has repeatedly characterised Nigeria’s current insecurity as unprecedented and multifaceted, noting that violence in central states including Niger often carries a “distinct religious colouration,” while attacks in the northwest more commonly follow ethnic fault lines.
As of Tuesday, 165 individuals from St. Mary’s Catholic schools – 153 children and 12 staff – remain unaccounted for, with no public indication of when or how the authorities plan to bring them home.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Aci Africa
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