The Nigerian government has successfully negotiated the release of 100 children who were abducted last month, as reported by local media sources. This development marks a moment of relief and hope for the families affected by this traumatic incident.
These children were seized from St. Mary’s School located in Papiri, within Niger state, on November 21. The joyous news of their release was broadcasted by Channels Television, a prominent local news outlet, on Sunday.
This event unfolds against a backdrop of ongoing religious persecution in Nigeria, which has drawn international attention. As a consequence, former U.S. President Donald Trump had previously labeled Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” due to these issues.
Earlier reports from November by the BBC indicated that the number of kidnapped children could be as high as 303. This figure was provided by Mary Barron, the superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), highlighting the large scale of the abduction.
At St. Mary’s Catholic School, where the abduction took place, the students were described as very young, with some as young as six years old, according to a nun familiar with the school. This detail adds a poignant layer to the tragedy that unfolded in Niger state.
The nun said the students were “tiny,” and as young as 6 years old.
According to Barron, 50 of the students escaped over that weekend.
“They said they walked and walked, because they knew they couldn’t walk back to the school, so they just kept walking until they found something familiar,” she said.
Belongings are seen outside a student dormitory at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger state, on Nov. 23, 2025. (Ifeanyi Immanuel Bakwenye/AFP via Getty Images)
Two hundred fifty-three students and 12 teachers are currently in captivity. It is unclear how many will be held after the release goes through.
Soon after the kidnappings, Trump told Fox News Radio that the Nigerian government had “done nothing” to stop the killings.
“I’m really angry about it,” he said on Nov. 23. “What’s happening in Nigeria is a disgrace.”
At the time, War Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Nigerian national security advisor Nuhu Ribadu and discussed cutting off aid to Nigeria if it “continues to allow the killing of Christians.”
A signboard for St. Mary’s Private Catholic Secondary School stands at the entrance of the school in Papiri on Nov. 23, 2025. (Ifeanyi Immanuel Bakwenye/AFP via Getty Images)
“Hegseth emphasized the need for Nigeria to demonstrate commitment and take both urgent and enduring action to stop violence against Christians and conveyed the Department’s desire to work by, with, and through Nigeria to deter and degrade terrorists that threaten the United States,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
