100 kidnapped Nigerian children released

A total of 100 of the schoolchildren who were kidnapped from a Nigerian Catholic school were released over the weekend. Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu confirmed their safe return in a Monday statement. Ahmed did not clarify how the releases occurred, or if a ransom was paid for their return.

The children were officially handed over to the government Monday evening, according to a local news outlet. They arrived at the Niger State Government House in several buses and were escorted by military vehicles. Gov. Mohammed Umaru Bago welcomed the children back.

More than 300 children were abducted when gunmen attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School in western Nigeria last month. Fifty of those abductees escaped shortly after the kidnappings, leaving at least 150 children still in captivity. Tinubu said Nigerian forces are working to ensure all children are rescued and accounted for.

As of Tuesday, no group has publicly claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

Have children been reunited with their families? The children, who are between the ages of 10 and 17, will be examined by medical personnel before being returned to their parents, Bago said, according to Nigerian media outlet The Cabal.

Parents told the Associated Press that the government did not inform them of the children’s return, and they instead learned of it from the media. One father said he is unsure if his 13-year-old son is part of the released group.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Russell’s report on an Anglican priest in Nigeria who died after being kidnapped.