About 165 students and staff from a Catholic school in Niger State who were abducted by gunmen last month remain hostages<\/p>\n
Nigeria has secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted last month from a Catholic boarding school, Channels Television reported on Sunday. The West African country has seen a surge of mass kidnappings, forcing Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to declare a security emergency.
\nGunmen stormed St. Mary\u2019s Catholic School in the village of Papiri, Niger State, on November 21, seizing 315 people, including 303 students and 12 teachers, according to the authorities. Two days later, 50 escaped and reunited with their families, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) reported.
\nOn Sunday, Channels Television cited officials as saying 100 more hostages have been released, leaving about 165 still in captivity. The report did not clarify whether any ransom was paid or how the latest release was negotiated.
\nDaniel Atori, spokesman for CAN in Niger State, told Reuters the group had not been formally briefed by the federal government about the operation.
\n\u201cWe hope and pray it is true and will be looking forward to when the remaining [hostages] will be released,\u201d Atori said.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Fifty children escape after mass school kidnapping in Nigeria<\/p>\n
Presidential spokesman Sunday Dare has confirmed the reports, according to AFP.
\nThe St. Mary\u2019s raid is Nigeria\u2019s worst school kidnapping since 2014, when more than 270 girls were seized from Chibok by the extremist group Boko Haram.
\nThe UN human rights office has expressed shock at the recent surge in mass abductions, saying at least 402 people, mainly schoolchildren, have been kidnapped in four states in the north-central region \u2013 Niger, Kebbi, Kwara and Borno \u2013 since November 17.
\nPresident Tinubu declared a \u201cnationwide security emergency\u201d on November 26 following mounting public anger, ordering security forces to recruit tens of thousands of new personnel.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Armed, economic and media terrorism: What is France doing in Africa?<\/p>\n
The crisis has drawn in foreign powers. Earlier on Sunday, a US congressional delegation met Nigeria\u2019s national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu in Abuja to discuss counterterrorism cooperation.
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that France will expand intelligence support for the country after getting a request from Tinubu. Meanwhile, French forces have been expelled from neighboring Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso over their failure to stop a deadly insurgency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
About 165 students and staff from a Catholic school in Niger State who were abducted by gunmen last month remain hostages Nigeria has secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t