According to local media, Nigeria’s government has secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted last month.
The children were taken from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State on November 21. The release was announced on Sunday by local broadcaster Channels Television.
The news comes as Christians continue to face persecution in Nigeria, which the president has led Donald Trump to declare the West African nation a ‘country of special interest’.
In November, the BBC reported that as many as 303 children had been kidnapped from the school, citing the Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), Mary Barron.
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A classroom at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, on November 23, 2025. (Ifeanyi Immanuel Bakwenye/AFP via Getty Images)
The nun said the students were “little,” and only six years old.
According to Barron, 50 students escaped that weekend.
“They said they walked and walked because they knew they couldn’t walk back to school, so they kept walking until they found something familiar,” she said.
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Belongings are seen outside a student dormitory at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State on November 23, 2025. (Ifeanyi Immanuel Bakwenye/AFP via Getty Images)
Two hundred and fifty-three students and twelve teachers are currently in custody. It is unclear how many will be detained after the release is implemented.
“I’m really angry about it,” he said on November 23. “What is happening in Nigeria is a shame.”
Minister of War at the time Piet Hegseth met with Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu and discussed cutting off aid to Nigeria if the country continues to “allow the killing of Christians.”
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A signboard for St. Mary’s Private Catholic Secondary School stands at the entrance to the school in Papiri on November 23, 2025. (Ifeanyi Immanuel Bakwenye/AFP via Getty Images)
“Hegseth emphasized the need for Nigeria to demonstrate commitment and take both urgent and sustained action to end violence against Christians, and conveyed the Department’s desire to work by, with and through Nigeria to deter and degrade terrorists who threaten the United States.” the Pentagon said in a statement.
