Nigeria’s national security adviser has assured that the children kidnapped from a Catholic boarding school in Niger State will be reunited with their families soon.
Speaking during a visit to St. Mary’s co-educational school in Kontagora, Nuhu Ribadu told school authorities that the hundreds of abducted students are safe.
“The children are fine and will be back soon,” Ribadu said, according to Daniel Atori, spokesperson for the Catholic archdiocese that runs the school.
The armed gangs seized more than 300 students, teachers, and staff from the school on November 21, amid a growing wave of mass kidnappings in northern Nigeria.
Ribadu did not disclose the exact location of the children or elaborate on the government’s ongoing efforts to secure their release.
Fifty students have reportedly managed to escape from the captors so far.
Previous abductions in Nigeria have been resolved through a combination of military operations, negotiations, and, according to analysts, suspected ransom payments.
Kidnapping by armed “bandit” groups has become a highly organized, profit-driven industry in Nigeria, with recent weeks seeing a sharp spike in incidents.
Around the same time as the St. Mary’s abduction, gunmen kidnapped 25 students, all Muslims, from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in neighbouring Kebbi State.
The Kebbi students were later released through what the governor described as “non-kinetic” measures.
Ribadu’s visit included a government delegation, featuring the minister of humanitarian affairs and the director-general of the Department of State Services, Nigeria’s secret police.
The trip aimed to reassure families, assess security gaps, and coordinate efforts to safely return the abducted students.
