About 100 of more than 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren reportedly freed

About 100 of the more than 300 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria more than two weeks ago may have been released, according to local media reports.

TVC News Nigeria reported on Sunday that federal authorities had secured the release of roughly 100 children taken during the mass abduction at St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, a community in north-central Nigeria.

Federal officials previously told families that the abducted children “are where they are and will come back safely,” according to TVC, but did not disclose further details about their status or location.

The school is located in Niger State, a predominantly rural region several hundred miles north of Nigeria’s southern coastline and far from major urban centers such as Lagos and Port Harcourt.

The reported development follows the large-scale kidnapping in late November, when armed men abducted around 315 pupils, staff members, and relatives from the school. Fifty pupils later escaped and returned home.

At the time of the last confirmed update, 265 people remained in captivity, including 236 pupils, the children of three staff members, 14 secondary school students, and 12 staff members. Local authorities have not said which group was responsible for the attack.

Previous mass abductions at schools in northern and central Nigeria have been carried out by armed bandit groups and extremist organizations such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province.